Uzumaki Naruto: The Tale of a Gutsy Ninja
by miku89
Summary: Thank you, Sasuke. I'll fix everything, even if it breaks every bone in my body to do it. I won't let anyone down, nor would I throw their faith for me away. I'll save everyone. I'll save you! I won't go back on my word, ttebayo! Strong!FemNaru TimeTravel
1. STOP

Hi. If you're reading this story for the first time, **STOP. **I'm rewriting all the chapters, and posting it up as a different story. The newer version is called, "Uzumaki Naruto―Tale of the Gutsy Kunoichi". Sorry for the trouble! I promise you that that version would be _so much better _than this one―"Uzumaki Naruto: The Tale of a Gutsy Ninja" was my first story to ever write~

Just a warning though―The romance progress would be agonizingly slow, and about chapters 1 to 20 at most would be focused on the plot.

Thank you for giving this story a try! :)


	2. Chapter One

"Naruto? Since when did you know how to use the Body Flicker technique?" The aged Hokage raised a brow questioningly. "And I've never seen anything like the one you did just now…"

Naruto laughed nervously, "Right… about that, Hokage-jijii…"

"Hmm?"

"Well, that wasn't the Shunshin. It was something… more unusual."

"Oh? Humor me."

"It's a time travel jutsu."

"… I didn't really mean to try and make me laugh, Naruto—which, by the way, wasn't funny at all."

"No, really. I mean a time-space fuuinjutsu (sealing technique). Something I've learned from Ero—Jiraiya-sensei."

"_Jiraiya-sensei?" _He asked incredulously. "You… aren't joking, are you, Naruto?"

"That's what I've been _trying _to tell you. Not that I blame you or anything—this is entirely unbelievable."

The old man stared at Naruto long and hard, causing the girl to fidget. He finally sighed, and leaned back on his chair. "What caused you to come to this time? Surely you hadn't tried this dangerous technique on a mere whim?"

"No. The future… is not what you would expect. Um, may I use a henge on myself? My body feels really… small." Naruto looked down at her chest, "Tiny."

The Hokage laughed, "Sure, do what you like."

The girl, in a puff of smoke, transformed into a fairly tall, young sixteen year old, with different clothes. Naruto wore a pleasant smile, "Much better. Well, getting back to the matter at hand… Ah, but Hokage-sama, this would be a very long tale. Do you have the time?"

Hiruzen blinked at her politeness, and what she called him. "I'm free for the morning—it's six o' clock right now, and speaking of which, your teams are announced today at nine. Would you be fine to go?"

"Well… I feel quite tired and I know who my teammates are, but I would like to see everyone again." She smiled sadly, "I'll briefly start from the Chunin Exams… That's the beginning of everything, I suppose."

It was just then did Sarutobi Hiruzen know, merely from her tone, that he was in for a hefty headache.

* * *

><p>Naruto stretched the kinks out of her neck and back as she got out a few ingredients from the fridge. Luckily, she had all sorts of vegetables (kindly given by the Hokage a few days ago, probably), and meat. She set the rice cooker, and started chopping.<p>

"Ouch!" She quickly got a tissue and wiped the blood oozing out of one of her fingers. _Curse these short limbs! _Imagine how bad her kunai and shuriken skills have gotten because of them…

Sighing, she looked through her cupboards and got out a small band-aid. Checking the clock, she saw that it was fifteen minutes before eight. _Still got a lot of time… I'll be done making bento and preparing for the academy by thirty minutes, so I guess squeezing in training will work._

A smile graced her lips as she placed the frying pan on the fire, and got cooking. _Hah, to think I'd miss house-work this much… _She sniffed the wondrous smell, _and I guess it wouldn't hurt to make a big meal today._

She frowned at a thought, _now that I have time to think… I wonder why I didn't appear in my bed, seeing as I would have been asleep at this time… _She shook her head. Unnecessary thinking didn't sit well with her. _I was probably sleepwalking, and just happened to wind up in the Hokage's office. _She scowled, _but then again, the Old Man had said that I appeared in a weird way… Grah!_

**Shut up. Your voice is annoying me.**

_Hmph! It's not like I want to think this much, but I just do! _Naruto sighed, _that's what happens when you're too smart._

**Hmm. I question that.**

_Shuddap._

**I will if you do.**

_You're so childish._

_**Shuddap.**_

"Stop copying me, dammit!" Naruto sighed. She loved that furball—she really did—but he really got on her nerves more often than not.

After making her two lunch boxes, she looked around the room. She hummed. Now that she remembered, she wasn't too unorganized except for the occasional ramen cups here and there. Picking them up, she threw away the contents in the sink, crinkling her nose while doing so.

Sakura had been around at her house quite often, and reprimand her for not taking care of her apartment. They would clean it up together, though, and those were the times Naruto cherished. She became fond of house cleaning, but she loved cooking now. She'd always find herself grinning whenever she reads a new recipe book, too.

Sai had called her a freak.

That hypocrite. Naruto rolled her eyes at some of the memories of him, but felt a small pang in her chest.

Darn. She was homesick already.

* * *

><p>Sweat rolled down the side of her face as Naruto's shuriken missed the bull's-eye yet again. In thirty minutes she had mastered the kunai fully, just as good as she had been in her original time period. Her shuriken skills, however… everytime it flew off, she'd scream bloody murder to the creator of the weapon.<p>

"Why did I have to grow so much?" She whined, as she flopped on the ground. "Gah! This is no time to slouch!" She jumped back up, and threw the shuriken at the target again.

She scowled when the small, four-pointed blade had missed by a mere centimeter. _Well, looking at the bright side, I'm improving a lot, I guess._

She grimaced at the memory of her first attempt. It was pathetic, to put it simply.

She swung, and grinned.

It hit its target.

The bell rang, signaling that it was time for classes to start.

"Dammit, I'm late!"

She quickly picked up her weapons, and then noticed a many threads of ninja wires. _Huh? Why are they in a shrub of all places? _She then blinked, and it felt as if a light bulb had switched on in her brain. _That's it!_

* * *

><p>Sasuke sighed in irritation at the pink and purple disturbance. "Go bother someone else. Your presence is annoying."<p>

Ino and Sakura stopped their bickering and looked hurt, before they sulked and went to find another bench to sit on. That was when they all heard the window break.

Sasuke's eyes bulged out as a large flurry of wire attached shuriken and kunai took hold of the wooden desk he was sitting behind. Then, his eyes threatened to pop out when an orange blob literally flew in from the giant hole in the glass.

The class gaped when they saw yellow and orange collide with black and blue.

Sasuke could only stare at pools of oceanic blue in shock, as he was nose to nose with Naruto.

And also lips to lips.

The blonde could only hear alarms ringing in her head.

This was certainly not what she had expected on the first day of getting back in the past.

* * *

><p>Iruka chuckled nervously when he got inside the <em>silent <em>classroom. "Sorry I'm late…" _What on earth did I miss? _"Well, congratulations on passing the Genin test! I hope you are all prepared for the life of a real ninja—" He raised a brow when a hand was raised.

And his eyebrows raised up at an incredible height when he realized who the hand belonged to. The lazy boy _never _asked a question in class before.

"Yes, Shikamaru?"

"Sensei, why's Naruto here? I thought she flunked the test."

"Ah… that." He laughed nervously, "It seems like Mizuki had made a mistake on her test scores, and so she passed."

Some whispers erupted, before he silenced them. "Quiet, class! I need to announce the team selections!" The class was as silent as the dead.

He sighed, and brought his sheets closer to read them. Naruto tuned the first six teams out. She was going to completely shut her ears when her team was called out.

"Team seven: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura," Insert said girl's disappointed groan here, "Uchiha Sasuke." Haruno Sakura squealed in delight, causing everyone's ears to pop, before the whole female section of the class complained.

Iruka shouted, "Shut it!" Calming down, he coughed into his hand, "It's traditional that team seven gets the last of the grade, and the highest of both genders. Seeing as Naruto was dead last, and Sakura was the top kunoichi of the year, it's only natural that they would get Sasuke as their teammate."

Naruto grumbled grumpily at the glares she received. It's not her fault she didn't go back in time far enough.

* * *

><p>Naruto stretched; glad to be out of the stuffy classroom and away from the (weak) killing intent. She yawned, before settling onto a tree branch<p>

She stared at her bento boxes. And stared. _Darn. I don't feel so hungry anymore… just so tired. I should probably give one of them to someone… _

She glanced around, before she noticed a bit of pink through the leaves of trees._ Sakura's a good person to give it to! She's probably on a diet. _Naruto rolled her eyes.

Sakura sighed dejectedly on the stone bench as she looked at her small lunch. Salad. She grimaced at the noise her stomach made.

A mouthwatering smell touched her nose then, and she sniffed around. _That smells so good… _She turned around, only to jump back at the sight of Naruto grinning, holding up her two boxes of delicious looking food.

Sakura gulped.

"Want this one? I sorta made too much this morning."

Sakura pondered on her options, before nodding. It was too much to turn down. She shuffled aside, giving the blonde some space.

Sakura brought her chopsticks down to cut the meat, brought it up, and took a bite.

_Oh my God. _"Naruto, _you _made this?" She asked, stuffing more into her mouth. "This is so good!"

"Hehe! Well, cooking for your whole lifetime makes you a pro at it!"

Sakura watched Naruto chew on her lunch in newly found awe. She hadn't thought of her to be… well, _good _at something. She only labeled the Uzumaki as the dead last, and only saw her as that. As she grew older at the academy, her dislike turned disgust, disgust at how annoying the girl was in her eyes. Sakura thought on that more carefully and realized that although Naruto was loud, her grades were horrible, there's really nothing to dislike about her. Now that she looked back, Sakura remembered how the adults had always watched Naruto walk down the streets in fury and hatred.

Why was that?

Pranks? Sakura inwardly shook her head. No, surely that wasn't it. Pranks, though could get mean and nasty, could be easily forgotten after a couple of years. And even if that hadn't been the case, it wouldn't have gotten such strong, negative emotions from that so many people. Had Naruto done a crime?

…No, that was _definitely not it._

Even Sakura could tell that Naruto wasn't a bad person, and was quite the opposite. She had seen once that Naruto tried to stop some bullies before, and always got beat up for it. Despite that, Sakura had never seen Naruto complain. Sometimes, fear had planted her feet to the ground, forcing her to watch the whole thing, but Naruto always picked herself up and walked home. Then the next day, she would be completely wound-free and happy, like nothing had happened.

Because of that, Sakura had nearly thought entirely the incident never happened to Naruto. But somehow, deep inside, she knew that that wasn't the case.

"Hey, Naruto, why—"

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break.

"Yea, Sakura?"

The girl furrowed her brows, before shaking her head, "Just wanted to say thanks for the bento."

Sakura knew, as of today, she would see Naruto in a new light.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was rewritten! Please wait for the others... and to the people reading this for the first time, I'm really sorry that the next chapters will be an eyesore to read.<strong>

**I'll post the rewritten version of the next chapter by this weekend, I think (I hope).**


	3. Chapter Two

"Naruto? Since when did you know how to use the Body Flicker technique?" The aged Hokage raised a brow questioningly. "And I've never seen anything like the one you did just now…"

Naruto laughed nervously, "Right… about that, Hokage-jijii…"

"Hmm?"

"Well, that wasn't the Shunshin. It was something… more unusual."

"Oh? Humor me."

"It's a time travel jutsu."

"… I didn't really mean to try and make me laugh, Naruto—which, by the way, wasn't funny at all."

"No, really. I mean a time-space fuuinjutsu (sealing technique). Something I've learned from Ero—Jiraiya-sensei."

"_Jiraiya-sensei?" _He asked incredulously. "You… aren't joking, are you, Naruto?"

"That's what I've been _trying _to tell you. Not that I blame you or anything—this is entirely unbelievable."

The old man stared at Naruto long and hard, causing the girl to fidget. He finally sighed, and leaned back on his chair. "What caused you to come to this time? Surely you hadn't tried this dangerous technique on a mere whim?"

"No. The future… is not what you would expect. Um, may I use a henge on myself? My body feels really… small." Naruto looked down at her chest, "Tiny."

The Hokage laughed, "Sure, do what you like."

The girl, in a puff of smoke, transformed into a fairly tall, young sixteen year old, with different clothes. Naruto wore a pleasant smile, "Much better. Well, getting back to the matter at hand… Ah, but Hokage-sama, this would be a very long tale. Do you have the time?"

Hiruzen blinked at her politeness, and what she called him. "I'm free for the morning—it's six o' clock right now, and speaking of which, your teams are announced today at nine. Would you be fine to go?"

"Well… I feel quite tired and I know who my teammates are, but I would like to see everyone again." She smiled sadly, "I'll briefly start from the Chunin Exams… That's the beginning of everything, I suppose."

It was just then did Sarutobi Hiruzen know, merely from her tone, that he was in for a hefty headache.

* * *

><p>Naruto stretched the kinks out of her neck and back as she got out a few ingredients from the fridge. Luckily, she had all sorts of vegetables (kindly given by the Hokage a few days ago, probably), and meat. She set the rice cooker, and started chopping.<p>

"Ouch!" She quickly got a tissue and wiped the blood oozing out of one of her fingers. _Curse these short limbs! _Imagine how bad her kunai and shuriken skills have gotten because of them…

Sighing, she looked through her cupboards and got out a small band-aid. Checking the clock, she saw that it was fifteen minutes before eight. _Still got a lot of time… I'll be done making bento and preparing for the academy by thirty minutes, so I guess squeezing in training will work._

A smile graced her lips as she placed the frying pan on the fire, and got cooking. _Hah, to think I'd miss house-work this much… _She sniffed the wondrous smell, _and I guess it wouldn't hurt to make a big meal today._

She frowned at a thought, _now that I have time to think… I wonder why I didn't appear in my bed, seeing as I would have been asleep at this time… _She shook her head. Unnecessary thinking didn't sit well with her. _I was probably sleepwalking, and just happened to wind up in the Hokage's office. _She scowled, _but then again, the Old Man had said that I appeared in a weird way… Grah!_

**Shut up. Your voice is annoying me.**

_Hmph! It's not like I want to think this much, but I just do! _Naruto sighed, _that's what happens when you're too smart._

**Hmm. I question that.**

_Shuddap._

**I will if you do.**

_You're so childish._

_**Shuddap.**_

"Stop copying me, dammit!" Naruto sighed. She loved that furball—she really did—but he really got on her nerves more often than not.

After making her two lunch boxes, she looked around the room. She hummed. Now that she remembered, she wasn't too unorganized except for the occasional ramen cups here and there. Picking them up, she threw away the contents in the sink, crinkling her nose while doing so.

Sakura had been around at her house quite often, and reprimand her for not taking care of her apartment. They would clean it up together, though, and those were the times Naruto cherished. She became fond of house cleaning, but she loved cooking now. She'd always find herself grinning whenever she reads a new recipe book, too.

Sai had called her a freak.

That hypocrite. Naruto rolled her eyes at some of the memories of him, but felt a small pang in her chest.

Darn. She was homesick already.

* * *

><p>Sweat rolled down the side of her face as Naruto's shuriken missed the bull's-eye yet again. In thirty minutes she had mastered the kunai fully, just as good as she had been in her original time period. Her shuriken skills, however… everytime it flew off, she'd scream bloody murder to the creator of the weapon.<p>

"Why did I have to grow so much?" She whined, as she flopped on the ground. "Gah! This is no time to slouch!" She jumped back up, and threw the shuriken at the target again.

She scowled when the small, four-pointed blade had missed by a mere centimeter. _Well, looking at the bright side, I'm improving a lot, I guess._

She grimaced at the memory of her first attempt. It was pathetic, to put it simply.

She swung, and grinned.

It hit its target.

The bell rang, signaling that it was time for classes to start.

"Dammit, I'm late!"

She quickly picked up her weapons, and then noticed a many threads of ninja wires. _Huh? Why are they in a shrub of all places? _She then blinked, and it felt as if a light bulb had switched on in her brain. _That's it!_

* * *

><p>Sasuke sighed in irritation at the pink and purple disturbance. "Go bother someone else. Your presence is annoying."<p>

Ino and Sakura stopped their bickering and looked hurt, before they sulked and went to find another bench to sit on. That was when they all heard the window break.

Sasuke's eyes bulged out as a large flurry of wire attached shuriken and kunai took hold of the wooden desk he was sitting behind. Then, his eyes threatened to pop out when an orange blob literally flew in from the giant hole in the glass.

The class gaped when they saw yellow and orange collide with black and blue.

Sasuke could only stare at pools of oceanic blue in shock, as he was nose to nose with Naruto.

And also lips to lips.

The blonde could only hear alarms ringing in her head.

This was certainly not what she had expected on the first day of getting back in the past.

* * *

><p>Iruka chuckled nervously when he got inside the <em>silent <em>classroom. "Sorry I'm late…" _What on earth did I miss? _"Well, congratulations on passing the Genin test! I hope you are all prepared for the life of a real ninja—" He raised a brow when a hand was raised.

And his eyebrows raised up at an incredible height when he realized who the hand belonged to. The lazy boy _never _asked a question in class before.

"Yes, Shikamaru?"

"Sensei, why's Naruto here? I thought she flunked the test."

"Ah… that." He laughed nervously, "It seems like Mizuki had made a mistake on her test scores, and so she passed."

Some whispers erupted, before he silenced them. "Quiet, class! I need to announce the team selections!" The class was as silent as the dead.

He sighed, and brought his sheets closer to read them. Naruto tuned the first six teams out. She was going to completely shut her ears when her team was called out.

"Team seven: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura," Insert said girl's disappointed groan here, "Uchiha Sasuke." Haruno Sakura squealed in delight, causing everyone's ears to pop, before the whole female section of the class complained.

Iruka shouted, "Shut it!" Calming down, he coughed into his hand, "It's traditional that team seven gets the last of the grade, and the highest of both genders. Seeing as Naruto was dead last, and Sakura was the top kunoichi of the year, it's only natural that they would get Sasuke as their teammate."

Naruto grumbled grumpily at the glares she received. It's not her fault she didn't go back in time far enough.

* * *

><p>Naruto stretched; glad to be out of the stuffy classroom and away from the (weak) killing intent. She yawned, before settling onto a tree branch<p>

She stared at her bento boxes. And stared. _Darn. I don't feel so hungry anymore… just so tired. I should probably give one of them to someone… _

She glanced around, before she noticed a bit of pink through the leaves of trees._ Sakura's a good person to give it to! She's probably on a diet. _Naruto rolled her eyes.

Sakura sighed dejectedly on the stone bench as she looked at her small lunch. Salad. She grimaced at the noise her stomach made.

A mouthwatering smell touched her nose then, and she sniffed around. _That smells so good… _She turned around, only to jump back at the sight of Naruto grinning, holding up her two boxes of delicious looking food.

Sakura gulped.

"Want this one? I sorta made too much this morning."

Sakura pondered on her options, before nodding. It was too much to turn down. She shuffled aside, giving the blonde some space.

Sakura brought her chopsticks down to cut the meat, brought it up, and took a bite.

_Oh my God. _"Naruto, _you _made this?" She asked, stuffing more into her mouth. "This is so good!"

"Hehe! Well, cooking for your whole lifetime makes you a pro at it!"

Sakura watched Naruto chew on her lunch in newly found awe. She hadn't thought of her to be… well, _good _at something. She only labeled the Uzumaki as the dead last, and only saw her as that. As she grew older at the academy, her dislike turned disgust, disgust at how annoying the girl was in her eyes. Sakura thought on that more carefully and realized that although Naruto was loud, her grades were horrible, there's really nothing to dislike about her. Now that she looked back, Sakura remembered how the adults had always watched Naruto walk down the streets in fury and hatred.

Why was that?

Pranks? Sakura inwardly shook her head. No, surely that wasn't it. Pranks, though could get mean and nasty, could be easily forgotten after a couple of years. And even if that hadn't been the case, it wouldn't have gotten such strong, negative emotions from that so many people. Had Naruto done a crime?

…No, that was _definitely not it._

Even Sakura could tell that Naruto wasn't a bad person, and was quite the opposite. She had seen once that Naruto tried to stop some bullies before, and always got beat up for it. Despite that, Sakura had never seen Naruto complain. Sometimes, fear had planted her feet to the ground, forcing her to watch the whole thing, but Naruto always picked herself up and walked home. Then the next day, she would be completely wound-free and happy, like nothing had happened.

Because of that, Sakura had nearly thought entirely the incident never happened to Naruto. But somehow, deep inside, she knew that that wasn't the case.

"Hey, Naruto, why—"

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break.

"Yea, Sakura?"

The girl furrowed her brows, before shaking her head, "Just wanted to say thanks for the bento."

Sakura knew, as of today, she would see Naruto in a new light.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was rewritten! Please wait for the others... and to the people reading this for the first time, I'm really sorry that the next chapters will be an eyesore to read.<strong>

**I'll post the rewritten version of the next chapter by this weekend, I think (I hope).**


	4. Chapter Three

Naruto sighed; she had forgotten how late Kakashi could get. Well… it wouldn't hurt to start meditating, will it?

She sat up on the desk, folded her legs, and pressed her knuckles together. She let her eyes flutter close, inhaled, and then exhaled slowly.

Sakura eyed her awkwardly. Shaking her head, she turned to Sasuke, who was looking at the window. The pinkette frowned. _Why does Sasuke-kun always have that faraway look in his eyes? _Ignoring her inner self's shouts, she watched Naruto through the corner of her eyes.

The blonde had stayed in the same position for a while now. Silent. That was unlike her.

"Naruto—"

"Shut up, Sakura." Said girl blinked in surprise at the deep voice, and whipped her head to Sasuke. "She's meditating."

"What… Why?"

"How should I know?" He snapped in annoyance, "I can't read an idiot's mind."

Sakura laughed nervously, before looking at Naruto. _That meditating position…_ she frowned, _it's unlike the one we used in the previous years of the academy… _

It was then that Naruto seemed to look green. As in, _really _green. Sakura stood up in surprise, "Naruto?" The blond didn't hear, and Sakura panicked when the girl's skin started to _move. _"Oi! Naruto!"

Sasuke blinked, scowling, and then blinked again at Naruto. _What the—_

Sakura slapped Naruto hard. Sasuke sighed; was that the only thing that pink eyesore could do?

But it seemed to work, because their teammate woke up, and turned back to normal. Naruto blinked and whipped her head around, before letting out a breath of relief, "God, thank you, Sakura-chan! That was close…"

"What were you _doing? _You turned… _frog-like!"_

She laughed nervously, before frowning up at the clock. Her eyes squinted, and Sakura raised a brow.

"Naruto?"

"Ah, no, it's just that… there's _awfully _something wrong with that clock." Naruto glared, "As if a presence is behind it."

Sakura bopped her head, "You watch too many movies. How can there _be _a _presence _in a _clock?"_

"Hold on a second." Naruto jumped off the desk, and walked up to behind the teacher's. She stared up intently before shaking her head. "Yeah, you're probably right, Sakura-chan. There's no way a _person _could be _hiding _up there."

Then, they heard a crash coming from where Naruto was just looking at.

The new team froze, and rigidly turned to the clock. The hands ticked innocently, reminding them what the time was.

Sasuke scoffed, "It's probably just a fat rat breaking the wood inside." He scowled, "Where's our sensei? Isn't he supposed to be a jounin?"

"Ah, lighten up, Sasuke. He's probably just acting like somestalker somewhere. Hah, I wonder if he's fatter than the rat."

Sakura raised a brow, "Naruto, honestly, you think up the most _bizarre _ideas. Of all excuses there are in the world, you came up with _that?"_

She got a shrug in reply.

"Well, I bet our sensei will have weirder excuses."

The clock sneezed.

"Ah, that was probably the same _fat rat _Sasuke was talking about." Naruto smirked.

A poof sounded behind the door, causing the three former academy students to look at that direction.

A sighing Hatake Kakashi slid the wooden door open. "I'm here for team seven."

* * *

><p>"Alright, so tell me about yourselves." He drawled, "You know, your name, likes, dislikes… hobbies, dreams. That sort of thing."<p>

"Um, sensei, may you give us an example?" Sakura asked shyly.

"Sure. I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate… I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future? Never really thought about it. As for hobbies… I have lots of hobbies."

Sakura whispered to Naruto, _"In the end, all we learnt about him was his name…"_

The blonde nodded, rolling her eyes at the jounin. _Really. But… I guess it's kinda cool._

"Alright, you. Blondie. You're up."

Naruto grit her teeth. "My _name _is _Uzumaki Naruto. _Things I like… Cooking, ramen, occasionally house cleaning… most of all, training. Things I dislike? Snakes, and orange masks, I guess. Hobbies are training, and housework. My dreams for the future are to gain everyone's respect through time and hard work, and then become the hokage! But before that… I want world peace!" She grinned. "I want to end the cycle of hatred!"

Sakura's lips were parted in awe. Kakashi's visible eye was wide open. Sasuke scoffed.

"Dobe… The cycle of hatred will never stop. What makes you think you can do it?"

Naruto smiled with her eyes downcast. "Ah… I'll leave my awesome world-moving speech for later!" She laughed, "It may seem impossible, but _I'll _make it possible!"

Kakashi nodded, "That's a nice dream, Naruto." _You've certainly grown up well… _he stared at her face, _but what worries me is how you spotted me back in the classroom. _"Alright, next is Pinky."  
><em>"Haruno Sakura. <em>I like…" _Sasuke, _Naruto knew even without Sakura's giggle. "My dislikes are… nothing, really." That surprised Naruto. "Hobbies are…" _Stalking Sasuke. _Naruto sighed. Sakura's giggling was really starting to worry her. "My dreams are…" _Marrying Sasuke and live happily ever after._

Kakashi sweat-dropped. _I have a fan girl at my hands then? This is going to be hard… _"The brooding one over there. You're up next."

Sasuke growled, _"Uchiha Sasuke. _I like nothing in particular. I have many things I hate. Hobbies are training. My dream? No. My ambition is to kill a certain man and to restore my clan."

Naruto cringed, "I'd feel sorry for your wife then." At Sakura's questioning gaze, she explained. "You know, the wife's gonna have to give birth right? Imagine how many babies she'll have to give birth to in order to restore a clan. I wouldn't want to be her."

Sakura gulped.

Kakashi sighed. "Oi, you three. I still need to tell you when your genin test will be."

Sakura whipped her head back at Kakashi, "What? But we already had one!"

"That? That was just to wipe out the hopeless." He said with a smile. "Why do you think so many had passed? The life of a shinobi is not as easy as you three might believe."

Naruto scoffed.

Kakashi ignored her. "Anyways, it will be a survival test, and we'll be having it next week. I'll explain it in further detail then." He stood, before blinking, as if he forgot something. "Oh, and don't eat your breakfast."

Sakura furrowed her brows, "Why?"

"You'll puke." He chirped pleasantly.

Naruto scoffed again.

The silver haired jounin disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke was ready to go, before Sakura shot up. "Wait, Sasuke-kun!" She looked back at Naruto, "Come on, Naruto!"

"Huh?" Naruto could only utter before she was dragged along with the pink girl. "Wait, what do you mean "come on"? I'm not going to join you in stalking Sasuke!"

"W-What are you talking about? No, we're going to eat together!" Sakura said stubbornly without looking back at her. "Since we're gonna be a team—I _know _we'll pass the test—we should at least go somewhere together to eat!"

"Uh…" _Should I tell her that Kakashi-sensei forgot to mention the passing rate of the bell test?_

…_Nah. She'll flip. _"Fine, fine! Just let me walk, Sakura-chan!"

"Ah! Sorry, I forgot." Naruto was finally released, and the two ran after Sasuke.

* * *

><p>Sasuke's eye twitched. Why did he join them again?He looked down at his bind arms, the rope being held by Naruto. Oh, that's right—he was held hostage.<p>

Blame his carelessness.

Naruto used her free hand to gingerly touch her twin blonde ponytails. _I want to look like my former age, but… _She grinned, _it feels nice to be younger again, I guess. _Besides, she could change her hairstyle when she finds a new outfit.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, where are we going?"

"Um…" Sakura laughed nervously, "I thought you were going to decide?"

"But… I wasn't the one who thought of this idea." Sasuke would of slapped his forehead, but his hands were bound. "Then… how about Ichiraku's?"

"You mean that ramen stall? Um…" Sakura furrowed her brows. "But…"

"They make the best noodles!" Naruto tugged at the rope, and quickened her pace in her excitement. "Ah! I know, you're worried about the calories, right?"

Sakura looked down, and nodded.

"Don't worry; they even have this really popular healthy ramen menu, too! Ayame-neechan thought of it!"

Sakura's face brightened up considerably, "Okay, then! Let's go there!"  
>Sasuke sighed. Sakura was so simple-minded. "Can you take this off? It's embarrassing enough to walk with you two."<p>

"Fine, fine, don't get your panties in a twist." Naruto grumbled.

"Hey, isn't that Sasuke-kun?" Team seven looked around to see a _very _giddy Ino pulling Chouji and Shikamaru. "It is!"

Sakura groaned. Naruto sighed. Sasuke glared.

In the end, team ten and seven ate together at the famous yakiniku restaurant. Naruto sat in between Shikamaru and Chouji, and the three watched the two fangirls torture Sasuke in amusement.

Currently, the Uchiha was sat in between Ino and Sakura, his body threatening to split from all the tugging at his arms they did.

Naruto smiled to herself as she was about to take the only cooked meat, only to see a pair of shaky chopsticks also come close to grab it.

She looked up, to see ebony eyes stare back.

She glared.

He glared back.

Blue lightning crackled as hot coals burned.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, and took the beef from the hot pot and placed it on Chouji's plate.

Naruto blinked, flicked her eyes at Sasuke one more time, then at Shikamaru.

"_Shikamaru!"_

Her screech was heard all the way from Suna.

* * *

><p>Naruto opened the door to see a grinning Sakura. "Good afternoon, Naruto!"<p>

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Um, what're you here for?"

"Well, you see, I really think my hair's too long…" Sakura sighed. "So I was wondering if my teammate could help me with that."

"Me?" Naruto blinked. "What about Ino? I'm sure she's more trustworthy for that kinda thing."

She scrunched her face in reply, "Ino was jealous of my hair once, and I'm not sure if she still is. I'll probably turn bald in a minute if I leave it to her."

"Ah, I see. Well, I have a hairstyle in mind, but are you sure?"

"Yup!"

Naruto grinned as she let her inside. "I'll go get the scissors, so you can sit at the couch or something."

"Okay, thanks, Naruto!"

Sakura looked around the living room as she walked to the sofa. It was completely different from what she had thought it would look.

_No ramen cups or comic books… just scrolls and papers. _She looked around in awe. _She really takes being a ninja seriously…_

"Ah, sorry 'bout the mess." She turned to see Naruto rub the back of her neck sheepishly, "I just always fall asleep whenever I read them… and I then don't have time to clean up the house."

"Really? Why is that?"

"I train… and yeah." She laughed. "I forget all the time."

Sakura smiled, shaking her head. "Well, do you want me to help you with it, then? Since I'll owe you quite a lot…"

Naruto grinned, and nodded enthusiastically. "That would be awesome! So… how much do you want to cut your hair?"

Sakura furrowed her brows. She brought her hands up to hold her bubblegum locks. _I'm going to be a kunoichi… but this would get in the way. _The ends of her lips curled up. _I need to grow up._

"Up till here!" Sakura chirped as she pointed at the level of her chin.

"…You're kidding, right?"

Snip. Snip. Snip.

"Hey, Sakura?"

"Hm?"

"Wouldn't you feel more comfortable if your mom had done it then?"

"Why ask now?" Sakura laughed softly.

"Ah… I didn't really think of that before so… and I just remembered now."

Snip. "Oh. I just felt that I wanted to get to know you better and all that."

Naruto blinked, "Really?"

"Mm."

"Then… what do you wanna know?"

Sakura hummed; what _did _she want to know? "Well, how about… why did you join the academy?"

"Ah, that. Well, when I was small, I wanted to become the Hokage to stop people from disrespecting me and make them treat me like a somebody; somebody important. Hokage-jijii enrolled me in the academy after I told him." Naruto chuckled, "But a guy once told me this: A hokage doesn't earn respect from his people, but in fact a hokage becomes what he is because of the respect he earned from his people."

"That was… wow. Who was he or she?"

Naruto contemplated her options, before dismissing her worries. "He. Itachi."

"Itachi? Hmm, wise weasel." Sakura grinned, "He sounds like a nice guy."

"He's nice alright." Naruto smiled softly. "I wish I could have gotten to know him better, though."

"Did he…" She left the rest of a question unspoken, but both knew what she was going to ask.

"…die? I guess so. I never heard from him again."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. Hey, Sakura, can I ask you something?" At her nod, Naruto continued, "Why did you want to cut your hair?"

"Oh, this?" Sakura looked down at the cut tresses on the floor. "It would get in the way when I fight, right? Even if I tie my hair up… it would be too noticeable in the woods. And now that I think about it… I'm only strong in history and written tests, which wouldn't really be helpful in survival missions and all that. Plus, my taijutsu's just average.

"Naruto, your strong points are the complete opposites of mine, and would really be useful during missions. I don't want to burden the team by something so pathetic like having my hair caught in someone's fists or something."

Naruto laughed nervously, "You don't say…" She smiled, keeping her eyes on Sakura's hair. "Well, I'm glad to hear that."

"I want to be taken seriously, I guess. The way I was in the academy won't help me be a good kunoichi." Sakura grinned, "I want to be acknowledged by more people—not only Sasuke. I guess… I want to become stronger."

"You know, when people are protecting something truly special to them, they truly can become as strong as they can be. I want to tell a very dear friend that, but he's not here right now. As if he's from another world." Naruto chuckled softly, "Now, there is someone very similar to him, someone very close by. He has a higher chance to understand, to listen to what I'm trying to say. So now, I won't give up. I'll help him. I'll save him. And I don't go back on my word."

Sakura took in her words with a small frown. "Really… Mind telling me who that person is?"

Naruto shook her head.

"Okay, that's fine. But there's something I've wanted to ask…" The blonde stayed silent. "Naruto, why do you sound like you've lived longer than twelve years? You're completely different from the academy now."

"Am I?"

"Yeah. Why is that?"

Naruto stopped cutting and set the scissors down on the table. "I guess I'm done with your hair, Sakura. Want to see it?"

Sakura frowned, put off that Naruto had ignored her question. "Sure. I'll go to the bathroom mirror."

She almost missed Naruto's words through the sound of the chair being put back.

"You'll know soon."

* * *

><p><em>I plunge into the wide, blue sea, but I can't feel anything. I can't feel the slap on my body when I come in contact with the water. I can't feel its bitter coldness going past my clothes. I can't feel it touch my warm skin. I can see though; it's the same color as my eyes.. I sink down, farther and farther, very slowly, with my body facing upwards. I could see spikes, and people standing by them. Who are they? Is that Akatsuki…? I could see Madara, Kisame, Zetsu… But they aren't coming to fight me.<em>

_As I go farther down, deeper into the darkness, I see _his_ face above me, his head towards my feet. He sinks down, until his nose nearly touches my forehead. Our eyes, yet connected, are distant, as if we aren't really seeing anything at all. I notice his hand with his Chidori coming at me, at my stomach._

_**Suddenly I feel the sharp, painful stab from it. I struggle, in desperate need for oxygen. My surroundings turn darker and darker, until finally it crumbles, and I'm surrounded in a blood-red light.**_** Help… Help me…**_**Am I really going to die like this? Is this really the end for Uzumaki Naruto? I still have so much to do… **_**So many promises unkept…**

_I feel a hand stop me from going any deeper. _Sakura-chan?_ Then more hands push me upwards. _Kakashi-sensei? Sai?

Everyone?

_I rise upwards in a fast speed, past the red light, past the darkness, past the sea, and finally_

Air.

_I breathe in the wondrous air and feel revived as the oxygen fills my lungs. I move in the air, maneuvering through it, spinning and turning, now looking downwards to the sea. I notice Sasuke, sinking lower and lower, like I have. If I don't save him soon, he'll be trapped in the darkness forever. Determined to bring him back, I raise my arms to tighten my forehead protector._

_He sinks lower and lower. As I dive back down, his eyes, his Mangekyo Sharingan, are staring right through me. _

_I saw that there wasn't a single trace of his original self anywhere hidden in those blood red orbs. _Nothing._ It was as if I was looking at an empty shell._

Naruto woke with a start; wide blue eyes scanned the bedroom in panic. She sighed, bringing a hand up to comb through her damp hair as she stared at her moonlight draped sheets.

_Sasuke…_

* * *

><p><em>I'll get the rewritten version of chapter four posted soon. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience m(_ _)m<em>


	5. Officially Team Seven

**HEY PEOPLE! This isn't the continuation of the last chapter, it's something like those fillers you love so much! Okay, it's not the _same _as fillers since it's actually part of the plot... but anyways, on with the story! (3750 words)**

* * *

><p>Yawn. I stretch, get out of bed, and get prepared. The usual boring morning preparations I'm sure you don't want to listen to. I look longingly at my neglected cup ramen on my dining table. I violently shake my head. No! I am going to use this as a handicap, and see how my training has done me so far.<p>

I get my keys, go out the door, lock the door, and head to training ground seven. Did I mention I was really sleepy? I bumped into a pole on the way, too. I guess training very late at night was a bad idea... Ow. Oh, hi Mr. Pole.

Oh, hey look. It's Sakura and Sasuke. Did I say hi? I can't seem to remember… Hey! The world's spinning!

And, just like that, I fell on the floor, sprawled out in front of Sasuke and Sakura, asleep.

* * *

><p><em>I plunge into the wide, blue sea, but I can't feel anything. I can't feel the slap on my body when I come in contact with the water. I can't feel it's bitter coldness going past my clothes. I can't feel it touch my warm skin. I can see though; it's the same color as my eyes.. I sink down, farther and farther, very slowly, with my body facing upwards. I could see spikes, and people standing by them. Who are they? Is that Akatsuki…? I could see Madara, Kisame, Zetsu… But they aren't coming to fight me.<em>

_As I go farther down, deeper into the darkness, I see Sasuke's face above me, his head pointing towards my feet. He sinks down, until his nose nearly touches my forehead. Our eyes, yet connected, are distant, as if we aren't really seeing anything at all. I notice his hand with his Chidori coming at me, at my stomach._

_**Suddenly I feel the sharp, painful stab from it. I struggle, in desperate need for oxygen. My surroundings turn darker and darker, until finally it crumbles, and I'm surrounded in a blood-red light.**_** Help… Help me…**_**Am I really going to die like this? Is this really the end for Uzumaki Naruto? I still have so much to do… **_**So many promises unkept…**

_I feel a hand stop me from going any deeper. _Sakura-chan?_ Then more hands push me upwards. _Kakashi-sensei? Sai?

Everyone?

_I rise upwards in a fast speed, past the red light, past the darkness, past the sea, and finally_

Air.

_I breathe in the wondrous air and feel revived as the oxygen fills my lungs. I move in the air, maneuvering through it, spinning and turning, now looking downwards to the sea. I notice Sasuke, sinking lower and lower, like I have. If I don't save him soon, he'll be trapped in the darkness forever. Determined to bring him back, I raise my arms to tighten my forehead protector._

_He sinks lower and lower. As I dive back down, his eyes, his Mangekyo Sharingan, are staring right through me. _

_I saw that there wasn't a single trace of his original self anywhere hidden in those blood red orbs. _Nothing._ It was as if I was looking at an empty shell._

* * *

><p>"-uto! Naruto! Oi, wake up, Usuratonkachi!" I look around me, and see Sasuke and Sakura looking at me strangely. I look at myself, and notice I was wearing my old orange jumpsuit, and not the black and orange one in my dream. I look at Sasuke, and let out a relieved sigh.<p>

Sakura walks to me, "Are you okay, Naruto?"

"Oh, I'm fine, Sakura-chan!" I say, to reassure her.

"You were whimpering in your sleep! You screamed Sasuke-kun's name and kept thrashing as if you were in pain, then suddenly stopped, then…Then...!" She trails off, as if not really knowing if she should say something. "What's wrong with you?" her voice was soaked with concern.

"Ah, nothing. Hey, is sensei here yet?"

"Hmph. No, he isn't. He should have been here three hou-" she got cut off when a 'Poof' sounded, and we turned to see the long awaited sensei, giving us an eye smile. I kinda feel him looking at me for a while though. Must be my imagination.

"I see you're all bright and early, on time, too!" He says cheerfully.

"You're late." Sakura grits out, and I nod, absolutely agreeing with her.

"Well, you see, there was a black cat that crossed my way, so I had to take the long road." Eye smile.

"And that takes you _three hours_?" Sakura growls, ready to rip his guts out.

"N-now, now, Sakura-chan! W-without him, we won't be able to pass now would we?" I smile nervously.

"Hmph! Fine. Hurry up and tell us what the test is, _sensei_."

Sasuke comes closer to listen, and Kakashi-sensei turns serious. He gets out two bells, and an alarm clock, and pressed a button.

"You have to get these bells from me by noon. If you don't get any bells, you fail and will have to go back to the academy. You'll be tied to a post, and would have to watch me eat lunch." He says happily, getting out three bento boxes. I could practically hear Sakura and Sasuke think 'So that's why he told us not to eat breakfast!' and an additional 'I didn't even eat dinner!' from Sakura.

Sakura then notices something "But sensei, there are only two bells!"

"Yes, there are. Two of you three would pass, and one will have to fail."

"W-what! That's unfair!" Sakura complained.

"Well I don't play fair. Besides, since when was the ninja world ever fair?" He smiles his trademark smile, the Eye Smile.

Sakura whispers to me, "I'm really starting to hate his smile." I nod. I did too, before, but now I feel that without it, he won't be the Kakashi-sensei I know.

"Okay. Ready,"

We get ready,

"Set,"

We're set to go,

"GO!"

And we go.

Well, they do, anyways.

"Oi! KAKASHI-SENSEI! FIGHT ME FAIR AND SQUARE, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" I shout. Man, am I loud or what?

"Aren't you a little… off from the others?" I could practically see a sweatdrop on his head.

"Well what'cha expect from the number one surprising knucleheaded ninja of Konoha!"

He widens his eyes by a fraction and says "Well, you sure are interesting. I'll tell you that."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and fight me!" You could literally see the angry tick mark on my forehead when I saw him get out his book.

* * *

><p>He seemed pretty surprised when I continued to fight him. I fought him with only taijutsu right now, and he does the same. He finally puts that damn book away after a couple of minutes<p>

"So you're finally serious, eh? Haven't you ever heard to _not _underestimate you opponents? Kakashi-_sensei _?" I say, emphasizing the last part. I don't like it when people do that. I don't know if it's because of the difference in level, or just me being the dead last of the academy, but they should know better than to do that! Bastards.

He's starting to get faster, so I pump chakra into my feet, using the tiger seal. He widens his eyes, while I smirk.

I jump and aim to punch him, like how Sakura-chan did it- except without the chakra on my fist-, but he dodges and catches my fist. I kick his chest, this time channeling chakra to my foot, to make him lose his grip on my hand. It works, and I jump backwards.

You really _are _full of surprises, aren't you?" He sighs. And mutters "Harder than I thought."

"Well, what can I say? I trained." And really, I did. I trained every night I got home. I wanted to gain my old jutsus and stuff, after all. And I'm getting better at a high pace, mostly thanks to the shadow clones. I managed to fit about a month's worth of training in a few hours!

He gets tired of taijutsu, and uses ninjutsu.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"

I dodge the big blast of wind and form my hands into my favorite seal.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Two clones appear and run into the forests to hide. Kakashi's eyes follow them but return to me when my hands run through a few seals. I chose to do a d-rank, since I can't show how awesome I am just yet. But then again, using wind element should have been nearly impossible for Naruto at this age. I just managed to master it (again) last night, too.

"Fuuton: Reppushou!" Kakashi widens his eyes when the gust of wind blew him into a tree, but pops into a log.

Damn, kawarimi, eh? I'm really starting to hate that technique. I look around to see if I can spot him, but a rush of memories from one of the clones came. I turn around to see a glint of Kakashi-sensei's bell shining through the leaves on a tree, and dismissed the other clone.

"You might as well come out, Kakashi-sensei. My clone already found you anyways."

He jumps down and walks towards me.

"Who would've thought you could use the wind element?" He says, intrigued, as if wanting to know what else I'm hiding.

"Didn't you already predict that?" I say quietly. He raises his visible brow, but doesn't say anything.

"If you're not coming to get me, then I will!" I shout. I get out a small scroll and paintbrush from my weapon pouch. I must really thank Sai for this later on when I meet him. I open the small ink box in the scroll end, dip the brush, and quickly paint two lions.

"Ninpou: Choujuu Giga!" Two big - but not as big as the kind Sai drew - lions jump out of the scroll and attacks Kakashi. While he was busy, I run into the forest and find Sakura and Sasuke. I notice black hair hidden under one of the rather big bushes farther away, and rush there.

"Sasuke!" I whisper quickly, and he turns to me, looking quite surprised. Whether it was the change in my abilities or me coming to him, I don't know.

"What the hell are you doing here, Usuratonkachi! You're going to let him know where I am, idiot!" he frantically whispers back. I roll my eyes, did he seriously think Kakashi didn't know?

"Did you seriously think that Kakashi-sensei doesn't know where you are? Besides, I have a plan."

"Shut up! Seriously, you have a plan? How are you sure it's going to work? Why should I even follow your plan?"

"Why don't _you _shut up and listen! Have you ever heard of a gennin team with only two gennin and a jounin? 'Cause I haven't. Gennin teams always consists of _three _gennins. That's why we were selected to be together in a _three-man-cell. _With a jounin it's _four_. Get it?"

He looked pissed, but sighed. "Fine. What's the plan that you have in mind?"

"Hold on, we need Sakura." He looked like he was going to say something, but I cut him off.

"Sakura is also important for this plan to work. Deal with it."

I turn to where Kakashi was fighting the ink lions only to see that he destroyed them.

"Damn. Come on, let's hurry up!"

* * *

><p>"Sakura!" I call out to her when we found her - which thankfully didn't take too long - , in the same position Sasuke was in though farther away from where he was.<p>

"Sasuke-kun! Naruto! What are you two doing here?" She asks confusion lacing her question.

"I followed her, since she said she has a plan." Sakura's eyes widened and her head snaps towards Naruto's.

"He followed you? What's the plan, and what do you need _me _for?" When I look at her questioningly, she looks down, and grudgingly says "I watched you fight Kakashi-sensei." Oh.

"We need you for your brains, and besides, we're supposed to be a three-man-cell, aren't we? What's the point of gathering three gennins for? One gennin can't possibly beat a _Jounin. _There are ranks for a reason." I sigh. Really, I don't get how we didn't figure this out. I see them blink in surprise.

"Read underneath the underneath. That saying is what helps us ninjas survive the ninja world. Without knowing this, we can get into traps without realizing it's too late."

They nod, understanding. Sakura, sharp as ever, gets straight to the point.

"So, what's the plan?" I beckon them to lean forwards to listen. They complied, and I run through the steps we should take, with Sakura and Sasuke commenting occasionally, adding details and ideas to it.

Who knew, that the idiot, the fangirl, and the arrogant boy of every girls dreams could have such great teamwork? Now all that's left is for them to prove it.

* * *

><p><em>Normal<em>

Kakashi stabs a kunai into the second lion's chest, which turned into a puddle of ink next to the first. Who would have thought that she could use seals? He looks towards where three different chakra levels were found. _They're working together now, are they? _He noticed Naruto leaving, and noticed her going to Sasuke. _Did she figure out the purpose of the test? _

Kakashi was mostly amazed by her fight. He wondered, how did she know how to use the wind element? The hokage coundn't have possibly taught her could he? More importantly, how did she know how to use that scroll technique? Last time he checked, the ninja of Konoha shouldn't have been very knowledgeable about that jutsu. Well, the ones he knew, anyways. And that's quite a lot of people, in ranking and original jutsu terms. Even he didn't know how to do the Choujuu Giga technique.

Very mysterious, that Naruto. He wondered, what other surprises lay hidden inside her?

"That's a really good plan, Naruto! If I hadn't known any better, I'd think you were smart!" Sakura teases. Naruto feigns mock hurt.

"Sakura-chan! That was mean! I can be smart when I wanna be, you know!"

"Whatever, let's just get on with it." Sasuke says quietly. Sakura and Naruto nodded and Naruto patted them on the shoulders, giving them a small 'Good luck' before they poofed into two pebbles. She bends down to pick them up, and puts the pebbles in her weapon pouch.

Sasuke thought to himself. _Since when was Naruto good at Ninjutsu? She shouldn't have been able to make a normal bunshin, and yet she could make a solid one._ His eye mentally twitches when he jumps up again, bumping into the shuriken and kunai. Couldn't she run a bit more carefully? _But more importantly, she knows elemental jutsus, as well as sealing. Just what else is she hiding? _

Naruto, rather pleased with herself, jumped to the clearing, where Kakashi was. He raises an eyebrow at her appearance.

"Haven't had enough of me have you? Oh well, I guess I _could _hang around with you for a while." Naruto, ticked, forms a seal.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" She shouts out, and ten clones appear. She points to Kakashi.

"Pound him, beat him, torture him, whatever him! You might as well kick him where it hurts!" He widens his eyes and turns deathly pale, his hand twitching towards the southern area, an important part of a man's life. Sorry if I'm sounding too cruel, but hey, I'm hungry, pissed off, and a little tired.

The clones do as commanded, also in the same state I'm in. While Kakashi was distracted, Naruto got out the two pebbles and very lightly threw them his way, even bending down a little so it didn't hit the ground with too much impact. After all, they would kill her later if she wasn't careful. Kakashi finally got rid of the clones and asks,

"Is that all you have? I'm quite disappointed."

"Barely done, yet Kakashi-sensei. I really hope you'd give me more credit." I say, pretending to be offended. Then smirk when the pebbles pop, and an annoyed Sasuke and Sakura grabs hold of Kakashi. Sasuke throws the end of a wire to Sakura and they both tie him up. Kakashi stood frozen, mostly from surprise, as they took the bells and walked towards Naruto.

When he finally recovers from his shock, he turns to Sasuke, who has the bells. "So, Sasuke, who are you giving those bells to?"

Sasuke's face forms to his infamous smirk. "One for me, and one for Sakura. I'll give Naruto the fun since she was the one who thought of this." He turns his smirk to Naruto, who smirks back.

Naruto's hands move to form the hand seal for a henge jutsu.

"Oiroke no jutsu!" Naruto poofs into a very feminine, older woman. She had long, silky black hair, her irises were chocolate brown, and she had a _very _curvy form. She wore a tight short skirt, and a very revealing tank top.

Kakashi's eyes widened. _That body! Those are definitely DD cups! Hehe…_ His gaze was the kind Jiraiya usually has when spying on woman at the baths, and you could see the small patch of blood and his blush barely covered by his mask. Naruto walks seductively towards him, hips swaying with every step. His hand twitches, wanting to remove his hitaiate from his sharingan to remember this moment. _But then again, it would see through the jutsu. _Even knowing the trick, he was still captivated.

Naruto raises her arms to rest on Kakashi's shoulders. She stands on her tiptoes to whisper into his ear.

"Ka-ka-shi-_sensei, _can't you let me pass? I'll stay with you forever if you do…" He stood upright, and stutters

"A-Alright, I'll let you pass. Y-You can get off me n-now." Naruto does as told, and poofs back to her original form. She hops happily to where her other teammates were, missing the now very visible blush on her sensei's face.

"**Naruto!** That was so inappropriate! He's your _sensei_! It's wrong!" Sakura shouts as she bops Naruto's head. Naruto, teary eyed, looks up to face Sakura.

"B-But Sakura-chan! It's a very good technique! It's good for missions on stealth! Ji-" Naruto cuts herself off, and looks at the others to check if they noticed. Luckily they didn't, so Naruto quickly changed the topic.

"But wasn't it an awesome plan?" She says, happy about the outcome. She turns to see Sasuke blushing, but misunderstood.

"Sasuke? Are you sick or something? 'Cause you're kinda red." He blushes even more when she reaches out to push his hitai-ate up to feel his forehead. Sasuke swats the hand away and mumbles 'I'm fine.' Sakura, who was watching the scene, felt jealous and a little left out. Naruto sensed Sakura's depression and realized how close she was standing next Sasuke, so quickly shuffles away from him.

"That was awesome guys! We really do make a great team." She says, giving a very cheerful grin, and Sakura can't help but to smile back.

"Yeah, we do. But you did most of the work Naruto."

Naruto looks at Sakura with surprise. "No, we were able to do this plan because you both were there to make the plan even better. You guys with the brains, and me with the distraction."

"Yeah, but you could have thought about thi-"

"Alright, alright. That's enough. You guys passed, and are the first ones to find out the true meaning of the test." Kakashi cuts in, and his eyes shape into his eye smile. "Those that break the rules are trash, but-" He opens his eyes to look sharply at his now gennin students "- those who betray their friends are worse than that." Sakura looked awed, Sasuke and Naruto smirked.

"Although you guys obeyed the rules at first you worked together as a team in the end. I'm proud to call you my students." He crinkles his visible eye into another eye smile.

"Let's eat lunch, I'm so hungry!" Naruto exclaims, running to the busy streets, not even waiting for their replies. Sakura giggled as she ran after her, Sasuke shook his head and began walking, and Kakashi just followed along.

"Let's have ramen!"

Bop.


	6. Chapter Six

**Sorry I haven't updated in a long time - there was a lot of tests, and I kept reediting the chapter, then changed it completely. What good would it do for the readers to repeat everything they already knew? It'd be a waste of time, and a waste of space. By the way, the 'filler' chapter was set a day after the survival test was announced (chapter two). Well, I hope that cleared some confusion, now here's the chapter!**

* * *

><p>She tells them, though not in great detail, about everything, starting from the Genin Exams. Naruto choked on some―most, since everything always had a downside in her timeline―parts, and watched as they looked with disbelief. Sakura was absolutely horrified.<p>

Although she managed to keep her face expressionless, her voice monotone, Naruto can't help but recall the nostalgic but painful memories. She also felt the longing of being with her _own _generation. It honestly didn't feel the same with the people she was with now, though they are technically them. They weren't too close to her in this time either, another big change. She was really surprised at Ino's behavior towards her, and missed the more _caring _Ino. Shikamaru and Chouji…the same as ever which was _one _thing she was glad about.

The best thing right now―other than Sasuke actually living at Konoha― was Sakura acting more like her future self. The most confident, sweet, powerful kunoichi the world would ever come to know.

"_Oi, Naruto! Come over here for a moment!" She heard Sakura call a little while away. She gives the bright, full moon one last glance and got up from her sitting position on the cliff. Naruto follows where she heard her voice, and poked her head inside the tent she was working in. _

"_Yo, Sakura-chan! You called?" Sakura gives the ninja she was fixing up a smile and turns to the blonde kunoichi. Seeing as the injured shinobi was already bandaged, Naruto guessed she was just about done._

"_Oh, yeah. I just needed to talk to you for a while." Sakura waves goodbye to the patient as he walked out, and he waved back. Just before he left though, he gives Naruto a thumbs up. She recognized him after looking at his face, she saw him around the village before, but not often._

"_Okay, so what do you want to talk about?" She asks, sitting down on one of the beds, and Sakura drags a chair and sits so she's leaning forwards on the chair's back. The jinchuuriki raise a brow, waiting._

"_Don't you think it's kind of funny how similar we are to the Legendary Sannin?" "We" as in the former team seven. She did mention the Sannin after all, and Sasuke is a lot similar to Orochimaru than Sai is. Naruto nods slowly, wondering what her pink haired friend was getting at. _

_Her emerald green eyes grew distant, recalling memories. "We would have a lot of fun back then. Me, you… Sasuke." something in Naruto's eyes seemed to flash at the end, but other than that, her face was completely expressionless. The pinkette sighed._

"_I know how you feel, Naruto."_

"_What do you mean?"_

_She sighs again. "You know what I mean. I know how you feel about Sasuke."_

_Naruto lies down on the bed, her spiky hair spreads over her folded arms behind her head. Her bangs cover her eyes, with no headband to keep them away. She looks up, her eyes following a fly hovering around the light in the ceiling of the tent. It was attracted to the light of the flames that were flickering as it melted the wax of the candle. _

"_Oh? Would you mind explaining?" Naruto drawled. Sakura follows Naruto's gaze, and watches the fly get closer to the flames. _

"_You love him. Something that not my level of affection could even reach. You're happy as long as he's safe, and you don't give up on him even after all he's done. While I selfishly want him all to myself, but quit after he tried to kill me with my own poisoned kunai. You didn't, even when he tried to kill you many times." Naruto still doesn't remove her eyes from the fly that was getting closer and closer to the angry red flames of the candle. Closer and closer to getting burned alive._

"_Even so, I'll still have to put a stop to him, don't I?"_

"_You could still save him, you know?" _

"_Yeah, I know. That's what I'm planning to do. __Hey, Sakura?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_You know you're my best friend right?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Good. I just wanted you to know that, in case something happened to me."_

"_Nothing's gonna happen to you Naruto."_

_Naruto smiles, gets up from the bed and waves goodbye as she walks out._

"_Of course nothing's gonna happen, Naruto―" Sakura smiled sadly, looking up just in time to see the flame lick the fly, and soon consumes it with its wrath. _

"―_because I won't allow it."_

* * *

><p>"<em>SAKURA!" <em>

_Naruto catches her before she falls, and Kakashi kills the last Zetsu, the one who hurt Sakura. When she was sure he's dead,―and they were safe―, Naruto focuses her attention on Sakura. Kakashi follows, rushing to get to them._

"_Sakura! Why did you―"_

"_Idiot! I can't watch as my best friend dies. Not when I can help it!" Sakura smiled, though painfully because of her large wound on her chest. But she suddenly coughs, blood spat out, and drips down her chin._

"_Sakura! I'll get you fixed, just you wait!" Naruto's hands frantically move above Sakura's chest, glowing green. Though it's working ―very slowly―, She wasn't that great, which she notices. Naruto whips her head around quickly and cries out, "PEOPLE! I need medics here NOW!" But the medic nins were already busy, trying to cure other people. _

"_Naruto, it's no use. I don't have enough chakra―" She coughs, causing more blood to spill. Naruto's face, drained, morphs into a look of mortification "― and they already have their hands full." Sakura flicked her eyes to the medics, who were doing what they can to save _their_ own precious people, proving her point. Naruto's cheeks were full of her tears. She shakes her head, disbelieving. She holds on to her green chakra, watching as the wound closes at an agonizingly slow pace._

"_I won't let you die here, not when I can help it." she says, her face grows hard with seriousness. Her tears dried up, leaving her cheeks left stinging, which she ignored. _

_The ends of Sakura's lips tug upwards, and her mouth forms the words as her voice carried through. "Using what I said against me, eh? Well, that _is _what you're good at, after all. Listening to every word people says, but don't whenever you feel like it. That would probably means you won't listen when I tell you to give up on me, wouldn't it?" _

_Despite the situation, Naruto's lips do the same as Sakura's did, and she closes her eyelids "Of course…" She reopens them, and her eyes narrow with determination. "So you better give up…on me giving up!"_

_Sakura's smile reaches her eyes and her eyes grew distant. "Naruto, what would I have been like if we weren't selected as a group? Sasuke, you, and Kakashi-sensei changed me I guess. And also Orochimaru, but that doesn't count, though it did take part a lot with my life." She jokes half-heartedly._

_Sakura looks at Kakashi as she says "Kakashi-sensei. Thank you for teaching me about teamwork. Thank you for being a great teacher, and no, what happened to us isn't your fault. Team Seven's like―_is―_a family to me. You guys taught me how to be strong in my own way." Kakashi's left eye was uncovered, and both sides of his cheeks were run with tears. He does no attempt to wipe them. Sakura turns back to Naruto._

"_Hey, Naruto. You'll help the 'me from the past', right? You can promise me that, can't you?" Naruto's eyes fill with tears again, but she doesn't let them fall. She can't disgrace Sakura's last moment, can she? She knew, that the meager amount of her skill in the medic department wouldn't be able to save Sakura in time, but she could at least help lessen the pain. She continues healing, and nods. "Of course. If I can't save you now, I'll just do it later." Naruto uses every inch of her will, trying hard not to explode with agony. She has to do this, for Sakura's sake. This is the only thing available to do for her right now. She can't spoil it. _

"_You sound as if I'm not dying." Sakura laughed, weakly. "But… I'll leave all my faith to you, Naruto." Before her eyes dimmed, she adds one more thing. "I'll trust Sasuke to you… Thank you Naruto, Kakashi-sensei." _

_Naruto couldn't help it. She couldn't believe it. She looks at Sakura's once bright and lively emerald gemmed eyes. Now, they were a dull, faded green. She screamed out to the heavens, screamed her pain out. The surrounding ninjas looked away sullenly. They understand her. They lost too many people to the war. _

_The rain starts to fall, and Kakashi looks up towards the sky, eyes closed, the raindrops hide his tears. _

Naruto starts to shake, and her arms raise up to clutch her head. Telling them this…is too painful. It hurts. It's like relieving the whole thing again. The little shiver she had turns into a violent one. Stop, stop, stop―

**Naruto.**

Naruto's eyes opens, and looks around her. Dammit, how could she forget, even for a moment, that she was in front of everyone!

"Thanks, Furball." She says out loud, and raises her arms to the back of her head, folded, the casual gesture she usually wore. Everyone's eyes were wide open, and Jiraiya's the first to speak.

"Naruto… You can communicate with the Nine Tails?"

She sighs.

"Yeah, we're sorta on good terms now. Though we fight a lot, and exchange insults."

Sakura's eyes were still wide with surprise, but she still asks, "So could you control him?"

Naruto looked like she was going to say something back, but her facial features turned more feral. Her whiskers darkened and stretched, her teeth sharpens, and her pupils turns into an oval shape. Her voice was deeper, and sounded more beast-like.

"**No, not yet. She has to prove she could still use it, even now." **Everyone in the room freezes, but calms down when Naruto returns back to normal.

"Sorry, I don't have _complete _control over him, but he can't take over or something. I still have _enough _control to keep him at bay, though he probably won't try anything on the village." She sheepishly rubs the back of her head. Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Sarutobi lets out a breath of relief. "Remember, Kyuubi was _controlled _by the _Masked Man. _The fake Madara." They all nod.

"Anyways, back to the timeline. I don't know what happened to Kakashi-sensei, the rest of my generation, or the five Kages, but I think they were alright." After all, Sakura died to save her_. _If it weren't for her, she wouldn't have―_wait, pause. I should stop brooding. I'm going to make up for it by saving her this time. _"I prepared myself for my fight with Sasuke, by taking it easy a few days before it, but that doesn't mean I stopped fighting. I helped with what I can, of course. So after those couple of days, I was at the Valley of the End."

"_So, you're finally here eh, Naruto?" He smirks, but it wasn't the one she was familiar with. It felt… alien to her._

"_Yeah, I am." Naruto looks straight into his empty eyes. _

"_You aren't going to say my name back?" He slides out his katana gracefully. _

"_You aren't the Sasuke I know." She gets out Asuma's old trench knives, something she received from Shikamaru, and slips her fingers in the holes. He gave it to her after saving Kakashi from his suicide mission, saying something about the Will of Fire. _

"_You mean the Sasuke from the old Team Seven? He's gone." _

_Naruto gets into a stance, she practiced this after getting the knives, not wanting to put one of Shikamaru's important memories of his teacher to waste. Her eyes shows how determined she was, which is saying a lot. Her black and orange jacket was quite dirty and a little torn from the previous fights, but it was still in fine position. _

_Sasuke points his sword towards her. He was better in appearance, since he hasn't fought for a long time. His white shirt was stainless, and his hair was still in its spiky state. The thunder sounded, the lightning followed suit. Sasuke ran forwards, Naruto does the same._

_CLANG_

_Metal against metal crashes to each other, one covered in wind chakra, the other, lightning. Naruto and Sasuke try to push each other off, their faces close together. Naruto grits her teeth, and uses every bit of her strength to push his sword off with both knives, and Sasuke jumps back. She does the same, putting even more distance between them._

"_**Katon:Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"**_

_Naruto flips to her right, barely dodging the giant fireball. _It sure grew. _And grow, it did. Back before he left, it was about twice the height of Kakashi-sensei. Now, it's four times―actually a little more than that―his height. _

_When she regains footage, she runs away from him, closer to the statues of Hashirama and Madara. Sasuke follows, finding out what she's trying to do. Then he notices the direction they're going to. She was running to the water, gathering chakra to her feet to run down the cliff. _

"_You're trying to run away? You're going to use the water to get away from my fire techniques, aren't you?" Sasuke smirked. "It won't work. I have lightning, if you have forgotten." _

_This time, Naruto smirked, and Sasuke's smirk faded. "Of course I haven't. After all, you're my first―" She cuts herself off, and Sasuke raises a brow. "Anyways, I know you too well. No, I'm not getting away. I'm going to use the water as my advantage."_

_Sasuke wasn't using his sharingan. Good. Naruto got out a seal, and held it between her index and middle finger, forming the Sheep seal. _

"_**Mekura Sakkaku no Jutsu!**[1]__" She slams it into the water, and the seal dissolves. In its place was a black blob, which expanded in the water. It surrounded Sasuke and tugged a little at his feet, making him stuck. It then spreads quickly, making strange lines that turn at an odd angle at a certain point and stops when it reaches his eyes. He stood, frozen, but Naruto knew she was running out of time. She had to kill him quickly, to stop him from trying to get his revenge, before he uses his sharingan to get out of the illusion. _

"_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**__" A clone appeared, and it started molding the chakra the original had on her hand. It popped into a puff of smoke after it finished its job. Naruto, holding the rasengan, pounded her feet against the water surface as she ran to Sasuke._

_Five… _

_Four…The lines started to release its clutches from his face, dragging back down to the blob at Sasuke's feet. _

_Three… His eyes slowly open._

_Two… The spiral ball was only a metre away from his heart. _

_One… His irises were blood red, complete with three tomoes. _

_If I was only a few more centimeters closer, I would've gotten him. He wouldn't have dodged, and he wouldn't have kicked me away. If I had been more prepared to kill him, even a millisecond earlier, I could have stopped him. _

_Sasuke laughs, a hollow, empty laugh. "Who would have thought you would be a seal person. Funny, the Akatsuki never heard about it." _

_Naruto smiles, fake, like Sai did before they grew closer. "My parents are seal masters. My clan's profession were seals. I was trained by Jiraiya. It was kind of obvious, if people bothered to do the research. And of course they, the Akatsuki, haven't. I don't really scream out to the world about my new awesome techniques like somebody does. And I don't wallow in anger over my loss as much as that somebody does, either." _

_Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed in irritation. Naruto shouldn't know or have a family. She never had a family to begin with! And she says she has parents? A clan? "What would you know? __**Huh!**__" _

"_I know how it fucking feels to lose someone you love so dearly! I know what it feels like to be betrayed by someone you trusted so much._ _I know what it's like to want revenge against someone, and to take everything away from him!" Naruto yells, and calms down when she continues._

"_I know what it feels like to have the person you love most… want to destroy everything you hold so dearly." Naruto she shouts, though quieter than the first time, clutching the part of the shirt near the heart. She speaks again, barely a whisper. "I know what it feels like to have the same person attempt to kill you by driving his hand through your chest._

"_I understand, though not all of it, your pain. I understand how it feels, so much that it _hurts_." Naruto looks directly into his eyes and Sasuke releases his anger. She could never understand!_

"_SHUT UP!"_

"The fight ended as a tie. I told him that we couldn't see each other's hearts. What I meant was that we weren't the strongest, after all. That was a lie. In truth, _I _saw what was in his heart."

_Naruto opens her eyes, and they adjust to the darkness. She sees nothing, nothing but herself and a path to who knows where. She couldn't see where she'd go if she fell off the bridge. She couldn't feel nor see anything except for the white bridge. _

_She walks, hearing her own footsteps echo loudly. The small heel of her shoe makes a loud 'clack' as it comes in contact with the white floor. After a while, she sees something. It was blurry, too far away, but she ran towards it. As she reaches it, she finds out that it's something like a portal. It looked like the wall was ripped open, revealing a bright, white light. She touches it with her fingers, and it the light seemed to pull her in. And it just did. _

"_Uwah!" _

_She yelped, but then regains footage. She scans her surroundings, and see that it was by the lake, near the Uchiha district. She saw a six year old Sasuke and his father, Fugaku at the deck._

_Sasuke ran through hand seals slowly, showing that he was still a beginner. _

"_**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"**_

_What she was expecting wasn't a grand fireball, as the name of the jutsu says. No, it was a ball of fire, the size of the user's face. Fugaku sighs, and Sasuke looks down, frustrated at himself. Naruto sympathized, understanding how he felt._

"_Why did I think you'd be like Itachi?" Fugaku shakes his head in disappointment and walks away._

_The scene changes, it was at the main house of the Uchiha compound, judging by the size of the house and the Uchiha crest at the walls of the garden. She was at the porch, watching Sasuke, with his burns and bandages on his face, asking his father to come with him to the lake one more time._

_They walk there, Naruto and Fugaku watched silently as Sasuke ran through the seals, quicker this time, and sucked in a lot of oxygen._

"_**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!**__" _

_A fireball, twice the size of Naruto, escapes Sasuke's mouth, and causes steam to rise from the water. She and Fugaku watched, amazed. When done, Sasuke glances at his father for approval. Fugaku merely turned his back on him, and started walking away._

_Naruto fumed, Sasuke practiced day and night―if you haven't noticed the wounds on his face―and you just go awa―_

"_That's my boy. What I'd expect of the Uchiha clan. You deserve the Uchiha crest, Sasuke. Work hard." Naruto looks back at Sasuke, and sees his face bright, completely different from the gloomy look he had moments ago. Her eyes soften. This is what he meant by working hard to gain the approval of his father, isn't it?_

_The scenery changes again, and she looks around. She notices that it's dark, the moon was out, and she was standing in the Uchiha compound. She sees Sasuke, still six, run down the streets. It was late, she noticed, so it's only natural for a kid his age to try to go home quickly._

"_Sasuke?" He still keeps going. _

"_Oi, Sasuke!" She tries to grab him from the shoulders, but her hands go through. _

"_W-What?" Naruto pulls back, freaked out, and looks at her hand. _

_When she takes her attention away from it, though, she notices Sasuke stopping, looking at a pole. It felt weird, like there was a presence there. He runs on after noticing that there wasn't any light in the houses. Her face became serious. If he's six right now, and judging by the absence of lights in the Uchiha compound, this should be the time when―_

"_Oh, shit." She follows little Sasuke, and they both see the shuriken and kunai, blood splatters, all around the streets. She follows him to where the scent of blood was strongest. _

_They walk into Sasuke's house. It was too quiet, but then they heard a sound. It wasn't too big, they couldn't identify what it was, but they ran to the direction of the sound. It was to Sasuke and Itachi's parents' room. _

"_Sasuke, stop! Stop!" She knew it was futile, but she couldn't help it. She watches as he pushed the door open, just in time to see Itachi standing over their parents' dead bodies, surrounded by blood. _

"_MOM! DAD!"_

_A figure comes out of the shadows, and Sasuke's eyes widen, terrified._

"_Nii…san?"_

* * *

><p>"<em>Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me. And yet survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to life."<em>

So this is what they both had to face. _Naruto looked sullenly at Itachi. And watched as he shed a tear. She knew he'd make Sasuke forget that, and she can't change it. This is Sasuke's memories, things he remembers. Even if she did change anything, it wouldn't work in reality. She closes her eyes, not wanting to watch any more. _

_Naruto reopens them, only to find that she's in a different place. _This is… _It was by the lake, and Sasuke was currently sitting at the deck. She saw her younger self, walking by. Six year old Naruto notices Six―or was it seven then?―year old Sasuke, and so does he. He glares at her, and she glared back. She continued walking, folding her arms and adding a little stomp to her feet, but Naruto knew better. Little Naruto was smiling, happy about being not so alone anymore. The older Naruto looked back at Sasuke, and sees him smiling. _

* * *

><p>"<em>Alright, the next two, spar!" Iruka called out and memory Sasuke and Naruto got into their stances. The real Naruto stood by the scarred teacher, watching the match.<em>

"_LET'S FIGHT!" Her younger self shouted, and she knew what came next. _

"_Hold on, Naruto. You have to shake your index and middle finger with his, remember?" Iruka said, exasperated. _

"_Fine, fine." They connected their hands, and soon, it felt like they were the only people on the planet. No one else. Just them._

_They broke off afterwards though, and fought. As usual, Naruto was beaten by Sasuke._

* * *

><p><em>Naruto was now at the classroom, watching the younger Sasuke and Naruto glare at each other. If she was right, then wasn't this the time when―<em>

"_Naruto! Stop bothering Sasuke…kun?" Sakura trailed off, shocked by the sight before her. Someone bumped into Naruto, causing her to go forward, which then caused her to kiss Sasuke. The real Naruto blushed, and smacked her forehead. _Really, I'm going to kill that guy when I get back!

_The two break off the kiss, and overreacted their disgust._

"_I'll kill you, Naruto!" Sasuke gasped out. Naruto gave him the middle finger, whilst choking._

"_It's not like I _wanted _that kiss, bastard! It was my first kiss, for fuck's sake!" She stops ranting when she felt the death glare directed at her. Wait, make that several death glares. "Now, hold on! If you're gonna murder anyone, murder _him!" She jabbed her thumb to the guy who accidentally knocked her to Sasuke. "_He pushed me!"_

"_Team seven: Uzumaki Naruto―" A very loud 'Alright!' was heard. "Haruno Sakura―" This time, two moans. "And Uchiha Sasuke." A moan, a screech of joy, and silence. _

"_Why the hell do I have to be on the same team with a fangirl and a prick!" _

"_Shut it, Naruto! You were deadlast, while they were the top of the class!"_

"_Just don't get in my way, loser."_

_Other memories rushed in, and in most of them, she cried. The longing, the empathy, the sympathy, everything. Some, she experienced with him, while the others, she didn't know. The one she shed tears for most, though, was the fight between Sasuke and Itachi._

"Well, after that, I ended up here, via teleportation jutsu." Naruto lets out a breath, relieved that explaining things was over.

Sakura gulped. "I can't believe that we would have to face that kind of fate."

"But I'd change that. I'll change that destiny with my own hands." Naruto corrected her. She then appears to have remembered something, and glances at the adults of the group.

"Sakura, I'm sure you're tired, and you'd like to have some time to soak in all the information, right?" Sakura looks at her in surprise, then nods in understanding. She would, and it is kind of clear that she was being dismissed, which she was glad for. So she leaves, saying goodbye to them, respectfully of course.

"So are you all clear with this?" They nod, and Naruto sighs.

"I need to ask a kind of favor to Kakashi-sensei though." She turns to her teacher, who nods.

"What would you like?"

"I want you to give me some time to train on my own. Just about two to three weeks. I need to be with the team for our first C-rank mission, after all." His face turns grim, but he understands that it is something that needed to be done, so he nods.

"You'd need an excuse to tell Sasuke, though. We wouldn't want him to burst into flames of jealousy." She rolls her eyes. "But you're good at that, so I guess you're fine."

She directs her attention to the hokage, seriousness etching her face.

"I need to see the Kazekage after the C-rank mission."

"I understand, but you'd need to go with your team." Naruto stiffens.

"They might get hurt." By Gaara, and Orochimaru might be there.

"You're strong, and Kakashi would be with you."

Naruto sighs, nothing can get past the elderly man now. Plus, he's the hokage. She doesn't have the authority over him. He does.

"Fine. But we'd be back in about two weeks, unless something happens."

Finally, Naruto turns to Jiraiya. She grins, and he raises a brow.

"You'll have to train me in the next couple of weeks. Good luck with that."

* * *

><p><strong>[1] I made this by myself, and it was supposed to mean 'Blinding Illusion Technique', but after several attempts to make it sound cool, it changed to "Blinded Illusion Technique". I understand Japanese, and looking at what suggestions Google Translator had made me laugh. So if you write Mekura Sakkaku no jutsu in japanese, it would look like this→盲錯覚の術<br>If I made a really confusing mistake, please tell me via review.**

**Thanks for reading! **


	7. Chapter Seven

**So here's the chapter! It's _way _longer than the other chapters, but it's a little boring. I'm still really surprised at getting this much reviews in such a short time (sorry I'm still a beginner at writing and fanfiction).**

**I just realized thanks to MoonPrincess623 that I got Sasuke's age during the Massacre thing wrong. I checked in Narutopedia, and it said that he was about 7-8 years old. Thanks for pointing that out! **

**Anon: Yup, thanks for pointing out that too. I fixed it, and now the last chapter probably feels grateful. I feel grateful. Thanks, man (or woman)!**

**And to Gruffard, thanks for reviewing! Don't worry, they aren't going to change too much. I sort of want to stay loyal to the original plot. But would you mind explaining further on the other advices? I kind of didn't really understand what you mean ^.^" Sorry, I'm kind of dumb. But still, thanks a bunch for telling me!**

**Nika, DutchyPuppy, ArdentheVampire, Taeniaea and the reviewers mentioned above thank you so much for your positive comments, and everyone who story alerted and added this story to their favorites! Merry Christmas, and (early) happy new year!**

**Sorry for such a long author's note, here's the chapter!**

* * *

><p>"Well, I guess I'll have to take care of you at some point, so why not start now? Alright, I'll train you. Under one condition." Naruto raises a brow. What would he want?<p>

"Prove to me that you really are all that."

"That I really am…all that?" Naruto repeats hesitantly. What does he mean by that?

"That you really are as strong as you said you are."

Naruto grinned.

"Sure. Give me two days, and I'll prove it to you."

"Fine. But I'll test you after those two days are over. Deal?"

"Deal. Oh wait. Can I ask for something?"

"What?"

"Let me be part of the toad summoning contract."

* * *

><p>It was about five in the morning, a time when many people are usually asleep; except when they would be woken up, mumbling about how youth-crazy people should be kept locked up in a sound-proof room. Naruto could currently be found at Team Seven's training ground, arguing with an elderly looking toad.<p>

"FOR CRYING OUTLOUD! I SAID THAT I NEED THIS TRAINING!" The hyperactive kunoichi screeched, causing Fukasaku to clutch its head.

"And I said that this is too extreme for a kid like you!"

"I know how to do it; I just need the toad oil! If I explain why I need to be able to master the Sage Mode now, it would cause me to lose more time to train!"

"Fine! But don't say I didn't warn you."

Poof.

* * *

><p>"Now that we're all here, let's go get our d-rank mission!" Kakashi chirped. Sakura groaned.<p>

"Where's the dobe?"

Sakura looked as if she were stifling a laugh as she looked at him sternly. "Sasuke-kun, you should treat your teammate with more respect."

He merely raised a brow questioningly. Since when did she say anything against him?

"Sasuke, you should listen to our pink-haired teammate." Kakashi gave him his eye smile, "But Naruto's busy for the next couple of weeks, so she couldn't come to help."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted and Sakura sighed.

"Be more enthusiastic, Sasuke-kun. You should learn from Naruto." Sasuke glared. Sakura shook her head. Naruto would love to hear her say that. She looks up at the sky, and shielded her eyes from the sun. _It sure is sunny today; Blue sky and a few fluffy, white clouds. I wonder how she's doing. _She smiled but notices that the others had started walking already, leaving her behind.

"H-Hey! Wait for me!"

* * *

><p>"Well, it is surprising that you've gone this far in a matter of hours and I'm sure you have your reasons, but if you try any more, you'll die!" Fukusaku exclaims after whacking Naruto in the head yet another time.<br>"I'm not done yet! I need to get Ero-sennin's approval!"

"Ero…sennin? Do you mean Jiraiya?"

"Yep! I need to pass this, or I'll never get his training."

It was silent for a while; she meditated on the oil, having already done that on the tall spikes with a board. Fukasaku shakes his head. This kid was too stubborn. But she _is_ progressing far, it's unbelievable really.

"Tell me, why would he give you the summoning contract?"

"I asked him for it this time. Last time he gave it to me."

"Last time?" Naruto sighs and got up from her meditation. She forms the sheep seal, and another Naruto pops up and gets straight to the same position the original was in before. The real Naruto turns back to the toad.

"Yeah. I'm really from the future. You can ask Jiraiya-sensei about it."

Fukasaku's eyes threaten to pop out. _From the future?_ After it dawned to him that she wasn't joking, and remembering how she seemed to know all about them. She even mentioned giving Gamatatsu some candy when she sees him.

"…I see. Well, then that's understandable. If only you'd mentioned that _beforehand_." Naruto rubs the back of her head sheepishly.

"Sorry."

"Even so, trying to master it in one day is impossible! Even if you did, you'd have no time for other training!"

"Then I'd just have to do the impossible, and make it possible! Just you wait!"

"**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"A hundred clones appeared, and split into two groups. Half of them went to the tall spikes and grabbed the boards. The other half practiced other techniques and seals.

"Well, if you do that, it would work."

"Right?" Naruto beams.

The original Naruto trained in her Kyuubi mode. All she needed to do was try molding some of his chakra. Easy.

**Do you really believe that?**

_Yeah, I do. _

Kyuubi chuckles, **Good. It won't do to help a hopeless idiot, after all. **

Naruto's eyes widened.

_What?_

**Hurry up and gather my chakra, Blondie. **

_Okay!_

However, Naruto was having a little problem. Kyuubi's chakra level was _huge._ Though improved, her chakra control wasn't that great. It was as good as it was after training with Jiraiya, but not as good as it was just before she time travelled. It took her a couple of hours to get a hang of it.

**Now try using your techniques with it, mortal. **

_Would it kill you to actually call me by my name?_

**I'm immortal. **

_Shut up!_

**I'm helping you, you ungrateful brat!**

* * *

><p>Kakashi watches as Sasuke and Sakura pile bags of rice onto a cart. <em>I wonder how Naruto's training is going. <em>He sighs and also starts helping, which gave the rest of the team a big relief. Sasuke was irritated. He could have been training now, and yet he has to do field work for people who were too lazy to do it themselves! And _now _their instructor comes to help? It's been thirty minutes of piling the bags already! He scowls. That blonde idiot had better be prepared for more work by the time she's back on duty.

* * *

><p>By sunset, Naruto dismissed the clones and this time tried gathering natural energy. She had an orange tint around her eyes after a minute of meditating. She opens them, revealing golden irises and pupils that of a toad's.<p>

Fukasaku shakes his head in disbelief. "Incredible. You actually managed to complete it in less than a day."

"Well, I didn't master completely master it, but it's as good as it can get. I also need to train in the Nine Tails mode, but I'll do that tomorrow." She grinned. "As long as you have guts and the will, you can overcome anything. That's what I learnt from Ero-sennin's first book, The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja!" Naruto's smile threatened to rip her face in half.

"Well, it seems more like the Tale of Uzumaki Naruto now. He should really change it to that, you and the main character of the book has the same name, after all. Or maybe just make it a sequel. Uzumaki Naruto: The Tale of a Gutsy Ninja. It has a nice ring to it." She nodded, also liking the idea. "Anyways, let's keep going. We'll start with the Frog Kumite…"

* * *

><p>"Gwah! Man, I'm beat!" Naruto gasps out as she lied on the grass, panting. Sweat drops rolled down the sides of her face from her heavy work out, but she finally did it. She finally got most of the things down.<p>

"Well go grab your jacket, and let's go eat." Naruto paused whatever movement she was making.

"E-Eat?" She gulped. How could she forget about that! Bugs! Shima's _bug_ cooking!

"Yes, of course! Its Shima's favorite, too. I'm sure you'll like it."

"_GWAHHHHHH!_"

* * *

><p>"Hey, did you hear that?" Sakura looks around her, then at her teammate. Sasuke looked at her strangely.<p>

"You're hearing things."

"Really? I'm sure that I heard Naruto's voice just now…"

"Oh well, let's go eat. Who's up for barbeque? My treat." Kakashi gives an eye smile.

"Me! You're the best, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura grins and Sasuke gives a curt nod. Who'd miss a free meal?

* * *

><p><em>I wish I could've skipped out on that meal, even if it <em>was_ free. _Naruto thought, half-dead, with drool dripping out of her mouth. Shima looked confused.

"Would you like more?"

Naruto shakes her head furiously. No way was she going to take any more of that!

"N-No thanks! I'm fine, really! I'll go out to train!" She calls out as she shuts the door behind her.

"My, what a hard worker. But she should really eat more. Too thin, that girl." Shima shakes her head. "Go watch over her for me will you, Fukasaku? I need to wash the dishes, and I don't want her training herself too much."

"Alright, I'll go. Honestly, that girl nearly killed herself to master the Sage mode."

"My goodness! Go! Now!" His wife commanded.

"I'm going, I'm going!"

"Hey Fukasaku?"

"What is it?"

"How do you tell time? The scenery never changes."

"Oh, why I just guess it of course. The summoning jutsu is a space-time ninjutsu. It could be midnight right now, or I could be wrong."

Naruto's mouth was wide open in shock. So if he _guessed _the time, it means that―

"Wait a second! S-So you're telling me that you don't actually know the time?"

"Yes." Fukasaku replied, confused. "But didn't you already know that?"

No, she didn't. She never had to know the time, since she really didn't have a time limit or anything. She rarely even goes to Mount Myoboku, either.

"WHAT! SEND ME BACK!"

"Now?"

"Phew. That was a major work out." Naruto spoke out loud as she flopped on the bed after taking a shower. _With this, I'll be a step closer to saving him. _She let out a big yawn, and her eyes drooped. _It feels like there's something in the ceiling… Meh, must be my imagination. _She snuggled into her blankets, and rubbing her face in the pillow. _I'm so sleepy…_

* * *

><p>"So, how was she?"<p>

"Good, but that girl's too stubborn. She could've died during training. Now would you tell me why she was so desperate, Jiraiya-chan?"

The white haired sage looked at the toad, then at the moon. A few stars were scattered in the sky, tiny yet bright. He knew she'd be a hard worker, and planned to train her anyways. But it wouldn't hurt to lessen the work needed, eh? _Besides, I need to do some research._

They were both at the roof of Naruto's apartment, and Naruto was asleep just below them. Jiraiya was lying down, looking up at the dark sky. Fukasaku sat by him, waiting for his answer.

"Well, she says I started taking her on as an apprentice when she was thirteen…"

* * *

><p><em>It's too bright.<em> Naruto shuts her eyes."Ugh…" She tries shutting out the sounds of the crows by covering her head with her pillow, but after a few seconds of searching for the fluffy thing, she drowsily looks up. _Huh?_

What she saw was definitely not what she was expecting. She expected for maybe her wooden headboard, or maybe even her wooden floor―she would occasionally fall off the bed during her sleep. She sits up, looking at her surroundings. She was currently on the grass of someplace, and was surrounded by giant leaves. The sky was a pinkish yellow color, and the clouds had a light purple shade to it. If her brain was working correctly, shouldn't this be―

"So you're finally awake, Naruto?"

"WAHH!" Naruto jumps back, surprised. She looks down at Fukasaku, who stared back at her awkwardly. "Oh, err, hi there, Fukasaku! How'd I get here?" Here, as in Mount Myoboku. "Did you summon me?"

"Of course I did! You overslept for two hours by the way. It's about nine in the morning, though, so we still have enough time." Naruto would've fainted, but that would cost too much time.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked, voice hoarse, politely. She didn't want to sound too disrespectful, since they went through much trouble for her. In such short notice, too.

"Shima and I were arguing whether or not we should or shouldn't; she said not to, saying that we should give you some rest!"

"Well I want to thank you guys properly, but may I do that after training?" Naruto looked back and forth to Shima and Fukasaku sheepishly. They sighed, and nodded. Fukasaku finally understood what drove her motivation on, but it didn't mean he liked it.

"So what do you plan on improving?" Shima asked, and they both looked expectantly at the blonde jinchuuriki.

"Well, I was thinking, since I kinda got the Sage Mode down, that I should focus on the Nine Tails Mode. If I got that down, too, I would like to practice some sealing." She replied thoughtfully. Plus, she needed to practice the seals to stop Orochimaru's cursed ones. Just the thought of it sent chills to her spine.

"Alright. We'll supervise, seeing as we won't be much of a use for that." Naruto nodded appreciatively, she felt sort of bad. "When you're done with that and fuuinjutsu, we'll review everything."

Naruto struggled to get up, panting. "I'm fine. I can still continue." She spins her chakra again with Kyuubi's chakra. It was working, for a few minutes, until it exploded, sending her backwards onto the ground again. The demon watched from its cage, sighing.

**You're doing it wrong **_**again. **_**Use more control, idiot.**

_I'm trying, but it isn't working! But I can feel it. I'm getting better with each try!_

The nine tailed beast sighed yet another time when she fell to the ground from the impact of the explosion. It was the same every time, though she managed to keep the spiral ball of chakra longer after each try, and he was getting absolutely bored.

_That wasn't my fault! I-I was just distracted!_

**Why not just wait until you meet that Hachibi punk, later? You know that you're going to meet him sometime soon, anyways.**

_As if I can sit around and do nothing! You know that. _

**Sadly, I do. After watching you all these years I know that you're too fidgety. And stupid. **

_Stop insulting me whenever you have the chance, furball. _

**According to your former male teammate―Sai, was it?―insulting each other proves to be a sign of good friendship. **

_So you admit it?_ Naruto thought back, surprised.

**No. Just wanted to hear your hopes of us being 'on good terms' being crushed.**

Naruto formed an irritated tick on her temple.

_Well, you _did _admit it to Hachibi that you changed thanks to a few sentences I've said. What was it again? "Being with―"_

**Shut up and get back to your training. **

_Alright, alright. Yeesh._

Several hours, and a lot of insults being exchanged, later, Naruto mastered the Nine Tails Rasengan. She was currently working on the wind style rasengan, and was getting closer to completing it. It was easier once she got the basics down, after all. She skipped lunch, telling the toads that she didn't really want to miss much more of her training time. The real reason was because she didn't want to eat or drink _bug _soup. She still shuddered at that thought. Shima came along though, shaking her head at this.

"She should really eat something. I even made some worm stew."

Fukasaku chuckled. "I don't think she likes insects, Shima. Her face did turn rather pale last night."

Shima waved him off with her hand. "Oh, nonsense! She just needs some time to get a little used to it, that's all." She looks up in surprise when she heard a loud explosion. She turned to see Naruto fall down from the blast of her failed jutsu. "Oh my!" Shima hurriedly hopped to her. Fukasaku did the same, although not too worried. Watching Naruto being pushed around by the force of her techiniques a lot does that to you.

"Thanks, Shima. I'm fine, really. Just a little scratched―nothing bad." Naruto tried to reassure her, but it wasn't working that well. Fukasaku smiled, seeing how his wife seemed to treat the blonde like a worried mother would to her daughter.

"Shima, if she says it's alright, let her be. She needs to continue on with her training."

Shima trotted back to her husband, a little put off. "Well, someone has to watch over her." She huffed.

They observed Naruto as she was getting close to keeping control of the whitish ball of chakra. It was alittle smaller than the rasengan, and it had four shuriken-like spikes. They studied Naruto's gleeful face. It was covered in sweat already, glistening from the light produced by the orb. It stayed for a few minutes, kept shape, and Naruto let it dwindle down until it vanished. She slumped onto the ground, lying on her back, her hair spread along with her arms. She stayed like that for about two minutes, and the toads looked at each other, wondering if she had fallen asleep.

Naruto got up a little lazily. "I think… I'm ready to try it." She gave a thumbs up to the frogs, grinning.

"So do you want to go back?" Fukasaku asked.

"Yup! I think I'd like to go to the plains―I think I remember the way."

* * *

><p>Kakashi popped with a cloud of smoke to the meeting place late as usual. Sakura and Sasuke noticed his arrival, and immediately glared. Well, Sasuke was already glaring, but it seemed to intensify.<p>

"Yo." He waved, causing Sakura to get even more pissed.

"You're late." She gritted her teeth. Couldn't their sensei _try_ to come early?

"Oh, really?" She seemed to be trying to glare daggers. "Well, I've been―"

"That's a lie!"

"I didn't even say it yet!" Kakashi cried in mock-terror. "How could you accuse your dear sensei like that?" He put his hand to where the heart was, acting hurt.

Sakura raised her trembling fist, but remembered that she can't hit him, someone of higher authority. That seemed to make her even madder, and she threw her arms at the air in anger.

"Calm down, Sakura. It's not very lady-like to act that way." Sakura stomped her foot, trying to vent off her frustration. "So let's get on with the training." Sakura stopped immediately, and Sasuke seemed to pay more attention. Kakashi's eye crinkled.

"Let's do some chakra control. Oh, and since Sakura's probably going to be able to get it on her first try, I'll work with her on that." Sasuke seemed to glare at her, but Sakura just gave him a peace sign, grinning. Kakashi shook his head. "Sasuke, she has impressive strength in chakra control, and girls tend to have less chakra than boys do. Although Naruto's an exception. "

"Why would she be any different?" Sasuke smirked. "She didn't seem very great in the academy."

"Sasuke, things aren't always as they seem. Naruto has higher stamina and chakra levels, maybe even more than you do." That made the smirk on his face wipe off. "Now, can we continue with training?" Sasuke nodded, but the scowl on his face seemed to make the stormy cloud above his head more realistic. Sakura tried to wave her hand at it.

* * *

><p>"Fuuton: Rasengan!" The mini Rasenshuriken caused the tree to explode into tiny bits and pieces. Shima and Fukasaku watched, amazed. They were at a wide area of grassy land, with many trees. This was where Naruto first trained for her Rasenshuriken with Yamato and Kakashi.<p>

Fukasaku was the first to speak. "That's…That's a very destructive jutsu, kid."

"Yeah, I made it myself! It's a mini version of the Rasenshuriken, which I need either the Sage mode or this one―" She looked down at herself, meaning the Kyuubi mode. "―to be able to use it. If I use it normally, I can't throw it, causing the nerves and bones to shatter into tiny bits." Naruto shivered at the memory. Tsunade and Sakura strictly prohibited him from using it, terrified at the results. "Now that I got that down, I'm going to practice the one I was just talking about."

It was definitely easier to learn it again than the first time, but that didn't mean it _was_ easy. It's surprising that she even got the complete rasengan set with the Nine Tails' chakra mastered in one day. Truly a genius of hardwork. Naruto flops to the ground and turns her head around on the grass to take a look at her handiwork; the trees were either blown away or in pieces, there were huge holes in the ground thanks to the Rasenshuriken.

"Ugh, I feel like an old lady that's been walking for a century." She snaps her head to the 'old lady' frog, hurting her neck in the process. "No offence, Shima."

The toad waved it off, and was awed at the sight around her. Who could have thought that this young pre-teen could cause this much damage? "It's amazing. You could be a Kage if you continue with this training." Shima looked terrified though. "And you're only just a child."

"Well, if you add onto the years of my previous life―which adds up to twenty nine, by the way―I'm not." Naruto grins. Fukasaku sighs.

"She's not really from this timeline, Shima." The female toad croaked with laughter at this.

"Well, it's swell that you can joke about that. It's very original."

Fukasaku sighed again. He went through a very brief explanation, and once Shima soaked in that it was the truth, she looked at the blonde.

"To think that you, with the appearance of a twelve year old, would have seen through all that." Shima shook her head. "You're a really strong child, I'll give you that."

"Of course, it's mostly because everyone was there for me. My friends, my parents, and even some enemies-turned-good. They all helped me. They saved me from tough times. They made me realize some things that I have forgotten about. Important things."

"I almost forgot who I was. I almost forgot about my friends. I almost turned into someone like the Masked Man."

"_You once said "it's thanks to everyone that I've gone this far" if I remember correctly. With the power you have now, you've forgotten everyone else's existence and only focused on yourself. If you go on like this…"what Itachi says next made Naruto feel as if she was stabbed in the chest. "You'll one day become like Madara."_

"And now that I think about it, I've started forgetting what was important ever since getting here. I have forgotten to trust my comrades again." Naruto shook her head at her foolishness. After all that talk with Itachi, how could she honestly forget? It was so wise and it hit her really hard that time, too.

"_No matter how strong you become, don't try to bear all the weight by yourself. You _will _fail."_

Fukasaku furrowed his white brows in confusion. "Pardon?""

_The village didn't acknowledge your father because he became hokage. He became the hokage because the village acknowledged him!" Naruto's mind flashed memories of the team seven, eight, ten, Gai's team, the village as he says the next sentence. "Don't forget your friends."_

Naruto snaps out of her daze-like state, and shakes her head to clear her thoughts. "Sorry, it was nothing. Okay, so let's start with the review thing and get on with it!"

"About that, Naruto. Even if you review it with me, it would still be less effective. I've called Jiraiya-chan in to spar with you." Naruto looked shocked, and then changed to a look of betrayal.

"Fukasaku! B-But! That's―" Naruto stuttered. She did a one-eighty spin when she heard a poof behind her. The smoke cleared, revealing a spiky, white haired man. She scowled, pointing a finger accusingly at the figure.

"Ero-sennin! You could have given me a _warning _or something!" She shouted, and Jiraiya had to cover his ears and apply chakra to his feet to stay on the ground. His upper body was being close to blown away, and when he regained balance, he shouted back.

"Be quiet, you fool! You made me use up my research time for my book! Everyone's been waiting for the new edition you know! You should be buffing with pride that I'm even teaching you!"

"_Excuse me? _For your fudging information, _I _was the one who did most of your work in the future! All _you _did was telling me the plot and how to write it, while _I _had to write the whole damn thing!"

"How nice of me. See, you got a preview of it! Plus, you got to learn all the juicy details! You could try it yourself on your own man. I'm sure you've taken an interest on―who was it again?" Jiraiya wiggled his brows suggestively, looking extremely perverted. What with his nose flaring and that awfully visible blush. "Oh, I remember. Sasu―"

Naruto, blushing uncontrollably, cut him off. "S-Shut up! And are you _kidding _me? I had to scrub myself clean so much that I think I lost many layers of skin in the process! I felt so _dirty _because of what I wrote with my _bare hands! _And it was actually published! That _dirty book _was actually freaking published!"

"Don't you dare insult the superiority of my wondrous book, young lady! It's the pleasure of all men and even women! It is the epitome of―"

"_Will you guys quit it?_" Shima and Fukasaku burst out in unison. Jiraiya and Naruto looks at the toads in surprise. Naruto remembers what they were suppose to do, and noticed how dark the sky has gotten. Steam got out of her ears, face red with fury.

"Y-You made me forget about training, dammit!"

"_Me_! I was the one who just appeared, and all of a sudden, had to put up with your screeching!"

"_What!_ Why I outta―"

"ENOUGH!" Again, the toads shouted together.

Fukasaku sighed. These two idiots are so alike that it's nearly unbelievable. _Well, _He thought as he looked at Naruto yelling at Jiraiya, _she is very easy to like. _Even Shima thought the same. Naruto has this effect that makes people want to be around her.

Naruto was tugging at her hair, and Jiraiya was pointing at her dramatically. "You're talking to the great toad sage, Jiraiya! And I'm _not _a pervert. I'm a―"

"Super pervert. Yeah, I understood that a _long _time ago." Naruto drawled, bored. "Now can we get to training?"

Jiraiya mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'brat'. "Fine, we'll test you on your Sennin Mode." Naruto faltered at that.

"Only that? B-But I thought we were going to test the whole thing!"

"We said that this is just the _review _of your training. _Tomorrow's _the real test." He said and turned towards the two toads. "Lord Fukasaku, Lady Shima, may I?" He asked respectfully, and the two of them nodded. "Okay, Naruto, enter into your Sage Mode."

"On it."

"Well, I want to see how my tutoring paid off." Fukasaku said, as he and Shima jumped on. After Naruto gathered the nature energy for a few minutes―although improved, it still takes longer than when she was older―, Jiraiya nodded to Fukasaku. The toad then asks his wife for reassurance. "Ma, are you ready?" Shima nodded.

Jiraiya got prepared, bringing his left foot to the front, as well as his left arm. "Then let the fun begin!" Naruto came to attack first. She brought her arm back, and thrusts it forward. Jiraiya protected himself with his arms, applying the natural energy to them. He was sent backwards, although not too much as he regained footage. He looked up at the girl in surprise. She was like a mini Tsunade. _Ouch, that's going to leave a bruise._ He thought as he inspected his arms. He shook them, trying to let the pain subside. It worked a little. "Who would've thought. A kid like you could lay a punch on me." He moved back to his stance, and taunted her. "Well, a shortie like you should be fairly easy to beat, though." Sure enough, that blew Naruto up. She ran forwards, and he mentally shook his head._ We'll need to work on that temper._

Although she was mad, the insult didn't blind her, of course. She knew she had to be careful. As Naruto and Jiraiya traded punches and kicks, she assessed her work. Jiraiya looked kind of troubled. _Good. _It was going a lot better than she first expected. Her past twelve year old self couldn't even land a hit. But she did, and a lot more of it. But that didn't mean she wasn't hurt herself. She was sent hurling to a tree.

"Oof." She crumpled to the floor, and struggled to get up. She cracked one eye open, to see him walking away. She used both arms to push up from the ground, and went back on her feet. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I can still continue." She wheezed out and he stops.

He didn't even turn back. "That's enough. We'll test on your skills tomorrow." He poofed away. Naruto's eye twitched. Why walk when you were going to just pop away like that? _I bet it was to look cool. _She collapsed onto the floor and leaned on the tree that she was thrown against as she starting to drift off to sleep. She glared at the spot he was standing in a few moments ago before her eyes closed. But just before she fell asleep, her lips curved into a smile. She really did miss the pervert.

"Sorry for bothering your team's training, Kakashi." Jiraiya apologized, seeing as he interrupted their chakra control exercise. They watched Sasuke roughly pounding his feet on the bark. Sakura was just running up and down, a little more _gently _than Sasuke. Apparently, Sasuke was taking out his frustration on the poor tree.

"Oh, don't worry." He sweat dropped as he watched Sasuke punch the tree this time. "They don't really need me. So I'm guessing it went well? You seem rather happy, Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi pointed out, seeing as the pervert was grinning moments ago. Jiraiya smiled again as he remembered Naruto's determined grin. "Better than I expected, although we did have some trouble. But from what I heard from Fukasaku-sama, Naruto needs more training, though she got a lot better these two days; so I don't have _too _much work." Her insults about his perverted book didn't really bother him. The little quarrel they had was interesting, too; it was kind of fun to watch the blonde react. But he was very proud of his first book. Naruto did mention that it was the key to changing the world like he wanted it to be―the key to bringing the world peace. "Other than that, it went very well. Naruto's intense training seems to have paid off. Even _I _had a rough time." That caused Kakashi's eye to widen. One of the legendary Sannin had trouble fighting off a new gennin. People who hadn't heard about Naruto's actual identity would be terrified of her. "But I only saw a part of her strength. I haven't tried her Nine Tails mode or her other techniques. And, if what I've heard was accurate, her complete rasengan is quite fearful."

"Well, I hope I'll get to see it." Kakashi glanced at Sasuke. "Although I probably won't for a long time, seeing as how the Uchiha prodigy would be furious."

"I'll try to convince her to tell him. It would save us all the trouble, except for the enemies." Jiraiya seemed to be in deep thought, as well as Kakashi. "Now, tell me more about her team." The sage wanted to see what Naruto's surroundings were like, after all.

Kakashi chuckled. "They are an interesting bunch. Naruto's the happy, cheerful one in our team―she keeps us all entertained―and constantly picks fights with Sasuke." The two adults watched as Sasuke slice the tree, before landing on the ground. "Sasuke, the stereotypical broody kid. Taunts Naruto whenever she does something stupid, which is most of the time, or insults her on something she says or does. Rarely smiles, though he smirks a lot." Kakashi looks at the girl slumped on a tree branch, obviously tired. "And last but not least, Sakura. Book smart, great at chakra control, but has the least amount of chakra. Scolds Naruto like a mother would, and acts like the sister of the three, though that only started a few days ago. I'm guessing it was with Naruto's influence, though she probably wasn't aware of it. Recently, Sakura turned more independent, training a lot harder. She once told me that she'd like to be a lot more like Naruto." Kakashi's eyes soften as he watches the girl go back to running. Jiraiya nodded, He heard this from Naruto already, when she was talking about her teammates during the explanation. He was, again, quite proud of his goddaughter. He could see Sakura was trying hard, too. They watched as Sasuke walked to Sakura, asking for some advice. The girl smiled and told him that he should focus mainly on the tree, and stop any agitating or unnerving thoughts. Sasuke nodded and thanked her in his way as he walked back to his tree. Kakashi looked a little surprised. "Well that's an improvement." He looked at Jiraiya, who caught his glance. "Jiraiya-sama, if it's alright with you, may Sakura and I watch Naruto's test?"

Jiraiya laughed. "Sure, sure. You don't need to be _that _polite, Kakashi. Yeah, I think that's a good idea; it allows you to understand your teammate better. But don't you think Sasuke should watch, too?"

"No, not yet. He doesn't seem to be ready yet. He'll only blow up with jealousy, judging by how he's been attacking the tree moments ago."

"Oh right. Like I said before, I'll try to convince her."

Seeing as how tired the two kids were, Kakashi called them over.

The two of them walked to him, and Sakura looked at Jiraiya in recognition, bowing her head. Sasuke looked at her strangely, before staring at the oddly fashioned man. He turned to Kakashi, deciding to ignore him until he was introduced.

"This is Jiraiya-sama, one of the Legendary Sannin." Sasuke raised a brow, but didn't ask why he was here. "Sasuke, how was it?"

Said boy looked a little put off, and replied rather grumpily, "Good. But I didn't finish it." He glared, although Kakashi wasn't really sure if that's how he always looked like.

Kakashi nodded. "You could practice at home, on the wall and such. But I advise not to damage it with a kunai. Otherwise do that on a tree." He eye smiled. Sasuke nodded once at the advice. "Sasuke, you are dismissed. I need to talk to Sakura about something, though." The boy raised a brow again, wondering what Kakashi needed to discuss about with the girl. He didn't question it, though, and walked away.

Once Sasuke was out of hearing range, Kakashi turned back to Sakura and Jiraiya.

She looked rather nervous. "Kakashi-sensei? Is this about what Naruto talked about?"

"Well, sort of. Tomorrow, would you like to watch Naruto's test with Jiraiya?" Sakura's eyes widened, and she nodded vigorously. She wanted to see how strong her teammate was, after all. And she sort of looked up to Naruto. Except for when she was an idiot.

* * *

><p>Said idiot just woke up, sneezing. Naruto rubbed her nose, getting up from where she was sleeping on the tree.<p>

"Ow, darn." She raised a hand to her neck, feeling a shock of pain there. _I guess I slept too long in the same position. _

She stretched when the pain went away, and saw how dark it was. _How long was I asleep? _She scowled. Jiraiya could have at least brought her home or something! Naruto straightened her jacket, pulling out the hair ties. Her hair was getting quite messy, after all. She sighed as she tightened her forehead protector. She sulked when she remembered how far her apartment was.

When she got home, she undressed and took a _long _shower. She thought about many things. As she got out, she just remembered something very troublesome.

She _completely_ forgot about the Sasuke's girlfriend thing, what with all the stuff going on in her life, she didn't have the time to think about it. Although it did scratch at the back of her mind, now that she thought about it.

"Ugh…" She felt miserable already. Damn, it didn't help that she actually _liked _Sasuke. Any sane girl would be happy about this, and any _fan _girl would be screeching in glee. It was _the _Uchiha Sasuke to them after all. Imagine all those girls coming at her door screaming when they find out. Which is strange. It's been about a week, and no girls came. No angry, morbid, _insane _girls came at her doorstep. _I guess I'll confront about it with Ino later. _If you're asking _why _she doesn't like the idea, then think. She had the fan girl problem as mentioned earlier, and had the five main countries' stake at her hands. One small move can cause the downfall of the world. If she has those…girls―honestly, are they even the same species as her?―aiming for her neck, how could she focus on the safety of everyone?

She had that, and everything else going on in her life! What the heck was she supposed to do?

One main thing that was the start of the whole chaos was Sasuke's defection. Naruto moaned as she held her head in her hands. She did say she had a plan, but that was a big, fat lie. Sasuke's defection was all because of the Chunin Exams, which was close. Very, very close.

What the hell was she supposed to do about that?

She slumped onto the couch, looking at the clock. 10:18 PM. It wasn't _too _late as she expected, but if she doesn't go to bed soon, she would oversleep. She looked around the room, noticing how trashed the place was. Ramen cups left open in the most random places, scrolls, books and papers on fuuinjutsu covered every inch of the floor. Naruto's been buying a lot of them recently, planning on training the sealing jutsus. Most of them were left opened.

She should also buy some plants. It really would brighten the place up a bit too. It felt lived in, of course, but also felt like it needed something else.

Naruto sighed as she picked up some of the scrolls, placing it onto the wooden shelf.

"_Really, Naruto. How hard is it to put your things back in place?" Sakura rolled her eyes as she placed a book back and pointed to the shelf. "It's practically empty!"_

_The blonde sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry, Sakura-chan. I kind of… forget."_

"_Geez. You always forget because of training too hard." Sakura pretended to be mad, lightly hitting Naruto on the head. Naruto knew it was an act, laughing as she tried to avoid the hit. _

Naruto chuckled. "Sorry, Sakura-chan." She walked to the bed, and it creaked when she dropped on it.

"I kind of forget." And unlike her other restless nights, she had a peaceful dream.

_"Come on, Naruto!" Sakura shouted, laughing along with Kakashi and Sai. Sasuke, hands in his pockets, stood next to them smiling his rare smile. _

* * *

><p><strong>So... how was it? By the way, the last part where she says "I kind of forget." was supposed to mean that she was "kind of" starting to get over what happened to the future Sakura. <strong>

**AND I wrote a new story! It's about time travel again, but this time it's waaay back to the time of Kakashi's old team, and takes place during Kakashi's first mission as a jounin leader (the Kannabi Bridge mission). Warning though, it's a Kakashi/Femnaru pairing.**

**Title: Naruto, What The Heck Are You Doing?**

**Summary: I somehow travelled back in time and stumbled upon my sensei's old team. To make things worse, I saved Obito. Oh wait, now my life is living hell, seeing as how I'm falling in love with Kakashi. Did I mention that I was thirteen again? **

**Whaddya think? Caught your interest? Well, the prologue and first chapter is up, so go take a look!**


	8. Chapter Eight

**Hey everyone! Winter break is soon coming to an end in a week *cries* so I'll be a little busy, and would also have to spend some time on my other story. I hope you guys read it! I was rather disappointed that I only got three reviews, but they were all very kind, so thanks! Anyways, I need to give my gratification, and add an disclaimer.**

**Thanks to all my reviewers and subscribers! I want to thank the reviewers for their polite and encouraging comments―they gave me the motivation to write.**

**Gruffard: Thank you so much for taking your time to explain! One thing that's been bothering me though is that... Gruffard, are you a mind reader? Well, I can't give you any more hints than that, but you just made me pull my hair out in fustration D': hehe just kidding! But seriously, are you?**

**ArdentheVampire: Naww, she's still far from Lee's sort of training! But she's getting close though. Thanks!**

**pure epicness1: By cute i think you mean amateurish. 'Cause that's just what I am, an amateur and a beginner at making stories. :P Thanks for the kind review! **

**Okay, I'm sure you got the love I have for my reviewers. ON WITH THE CHAPTER!**

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><p>The shrill of the alarm clock brought Naruto back from the dreamland, leaving her quite grumpy. <em>7:00 AM<em>. She had a great dream…even though she only remembers part of it_. _She mumbled incoherent sentences as she got out of bed, and swore when she clumsily fell off it. As she brushed her teeth, she looked at herself in the mirror. God, what happened to her? No, her appearance wasn't awful if that's what you're thinking. Her hair was perfectly normal, though a little spiky, it was almost silky, and had little to no tangles at all. She still wasn't used to her younger self's face, so seeing her still have baby fat made her kind of happy. It made her feel innocent, not like the ninja she would turn into. Though she was gentler with the kills than most of her colleagues and prevented it as much as possible, she was still a shinobi; they had to complete missions successfully, without fail.

Naruto arranged her alarm to be an hour early, so she could get prepared, eat, clean the house, and leave to meet Jiraiya around the bathhouse at 8. And…you know what he does there. The bathhouse was only fifteen minutes away, so she had enough time.

Naruto raised her sleeves to her elbows. "Well, I guess it's time to get started."

She picked up the ramen bowls and cups, bringing them to the sink. She drained out the soup left over, and threw the rest (cups and the tiny bits and pieces of noodles, etc.) in the trash―making sure they were sealed in a plastic bag of course. This was something Sakura strictly drilled into her head, and she definitely didn't want them stinking up the place.

Thankfully all of the scrolls were already picked up, so she put back the papers and books to its proper place. Now that all of that was cleared, the living room looked appropriate, like a normal living room should look like. But then again, it looked too unlived in. _I guess I'll go buy some flowers and plants later. That means I'll have to go to the Yamanaka's. _It would give her some time to talk with Ino, too.

She stretched, feeling the tightness in her back from bending down too much so early in the morning. _Speaking of which_… she checked the time. 7:55 AM. Naruto's eyes bulged out, and she sprinted to the door. She was ten minutes late!

* * *

><p><em>What's taking that brat so long?<em> The perverted sage looked around from his hiding spot. _Oh well, it gives me time to research! _His nose continued to flare as he watched through the peephole. _Yup, good research material. Ooh! A hot one just came out of the water! _Blood continuously dripped out of his nose. This was what Naruto first saw when she arrived to the meeting place.

_I knew it. _She raised a trembling fist. Who cares if he had higher authority? A pervert had to be punished. She even added a little chakra to her fist. And by 'little' it meant a lot; she still wasn't used to chakra control yet―most of her techniques take up a lot of chakra, so she didn't need to concentrate so much.

"OW! For Tsunade's breasts' sake, woman! What are you trying to do, kill me?" Jiraiya clutched the lump on his head. He didn't get to see the hot lady's breasts! No brassiere! He cried rivers. Actual flowing rivers.

Naruto's eye twitched. "Ero-sennin. If you weren't crying for such a perverted reason, I'd think you were a mutant baby."

"Perverted? No! It's research for the pleasure of all men and even woman! The epitome of―"

"You said that yesterday! Now can we get on with the test?" Naruto was horribly impatient this morning.

"Calm down, brat! We're still waiting for two other people." Naruto tilted her head in confusion._ Two other people?_

As if on cue, they heard a familiar 'poof'. "Yo, sorry I'm late. I ran into a black cat, so naturally I had to take the long road."

Everyone looked at Kakashi in surprise. That was rare. He's two hours and fifty minutes early. Naruto furrowed her brows in confusion. "Kakashi-sensei? Then who's the other―"

Not knowing that he was going to appear at that very spot, a pink haired figure ran into Kakashi. "Mmph? Oh, sorry, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura apologized sheepishly, and walked to face Naruto and Jiraiya. "Sorry I'm late! I had a little trouble making these." She raised her hand holding a picnic basket. She opened them, revealing twelve balls of onigiri. Naruto widened her eyes.

"Sakura-chan? What are you―Oh, wow! Those look great!"

Sakura giggled. "I figured you didn't eat much since you'd oversleep. And also no one probably thought of bringing lunch or anything, so we would all be hungry."

Jiraiya smiled, impressed. "That's very thoughtful of you, Sakura. We'll be sure to take a break and eat them!" His face turned slightly serious as he looked at Naruto, and hers did too. "So, let's get to team seven's training ground, shall we?"

"One thing I can't show right now―it's too destructive and dangerous, and can wipe out the place―is the Rasenshuriken. It's basically a gigantic shuriken-shaped rasengan, a spiral chakra ball jutsu. When it hits the target, it expands even bigger, forming a large dome. It causes several microscopic―even the Sharingan can't count them all―needles that rips the target's nerves and the passages where the chakra flows. I don't really know what it does that well, actually―I wasn't really paying attention―but it requires Sage or Nine Tails mode." Everyone's eyes widened. Such a frightening jutsu! Jiraiya and Kakashi were also surprised that she was able to improve the incomplete Rasengan to this level at such a young age. Truly a genius. "I can do the whole normal Rasengan set in both modes modes; Sage and the Nine Tails. The Nine Tails mode has the most variations of the Rasengan compared to Sage mode though. I already showed Ero-sennin the Sage mode, so I guess you'll have to wait for it a while longer." Naruto grinned at Kakashi and Sakura, who looked rather disappointed. "But the Kyuubi mode is what I really want to focus on. It's also more interesting to watch, no offence." She looked at Jiraiya, who nodded, not offended at all.

"So, I'll start molding the chakra then." She said rather awkwardly. She closed her eyes, entering her mindscape, to where Kyuubi was.

_I'm going to borrow your chakra a bit, furball. Thanks._

**Don't go too far with it, brat.**

Her whole being was covered with the chakra cape, glowing yellow. The rest looked awed; so this is what she would look like.

"I'll start with the different type of Rasengans…"

Jiraiya and Kakashi didn't have as much of an expression as Sakura did―Jiraiya had masked it a little, while Kakashi's face was mostly covered up―but it was obvious that they were stunned. They watched with eyes wide as Naruto blow up the trees, form large craters on the ground, demonstrating just how much damage her jutsus costs. Imagine how much destruction would be made with the Rasenshuriken!

Sakura, still in her stupefied state, stuttered. "T-There won't be much of a 'ground' if she continues on like this." Naruto rubbed the back of her head.  
>"Well, there's not much of a choice. You're all probably going to be bored if I just tell you about it. And I'm not a very good explainer. But damn, I think I'm going to have to pay for all this." She scratched her head. Well, she'll deal with that later. But she felt as if she was forgetting something…Oh right!<p>

"I forgot to tell that there was another mode! It's the Bijuu mode. I haven't tried it yet, now that I thought about it. The mode required you to be friends with the beast, but we weren't on great terms back then, so I ignored it. But since that changed, I guess I should try it…some time. I sort of forgot how to do it, and I guess I'll need Bee for it." Naruto mumbled the last part.

"We understand somewhat through your demonstration, so you don't have to cause more damage to the place." Jiraiya said rather wearily. That caused Naruto to look around, noticing that a large space was practically gone. The trees were charred, too.

"Sasuke's gonna be pissed. And probably also the Hokage." Naruto nodded as an afterthought.

"I've got an idea of your skills, Naruto. And I say you pass." Jiraiya grinned, and muttered "Although I was already planning on doing that."

"What'cha say?" Naruto asked suspiciously, cupping her ear.

"Hm? Oh nothing at all."

"If you say so…" She walked away to Sakura, adding a bounce to her steps in glee at her success.

"Jiraiya-sama, did you expect her to be this… advanced?" Kakashi asked, referring to the performance before, stumped. They knew she was going to be strong on some level, but this?

"No, not at all, I underestimated her abilities. But her normal chakra needs to improve. The amount of time needed for Naruto to change into both Nine Tails and Sage mode takes too much. She'll have to use those as a last resort." Jiraiya knit his eyebrows close together. He watched as the blonde chatted away happily to her friend, who was giggling. Judging by what Naruto told them about the future, they didn't have much time. He has no choice. "I'm going to take her on as an apprentice, a lot sooner than I would've planned to. We'll need to tell the chuunin and Jounin about this, as well as some chosen Anbu so that they could also be prepared. From what I heard, including Naruto's information, Root has spies mixed in the Anbu, so we can't tell all of them." Kakashi nodded, it was the best idea for now. They heard Naruto shout in indignation at something Sakura said.

"S-Sakura-chan! That's no reason to say that I'm his…his girlfriend! I'll have to deal with all sorts of trouble when his fans find out! They're crazy!" Sakura's eyes darkened. Naruto still went on ranting, oblivious to Sakura's growing anger. "And they―" Jiraiya and Kakashi watched in amusement.

"Oh? So I guess I was one of those "crazy, insane, annoying" fangirls? Or am I still one of them?" Sakura asked in an overly sweet tone. The blonde froze in recognization. That tone was used whenever she… _Uh oh. _Now both adults were barely containing their laughs.

"N-Now, now, Sakura-chan! You know you're not like that! You're different. You _were _a fangirl, not are! You're differe―"

"So I _was _insane?"

"N-No! I mean yes―No, no I meant no!" Naruto checked for approval through her arms that she used to protect her head. Sakura's trembling fists was all she needed to see as she braced herself.

One man was watching through a glass orb, laughing at Naruto's squirm. He was amazed; who would've thought that she'd progress this far? The hokage smiled affectionately. He called in an anbu, ordering him to get Kakashi and Jiraiya. His face turned serious as he placed his chin on his hands, elbows on the desk. If everything went as according to plan on their mission in Waves, then the main problem is the Chunin Exams.

"Now?" Jiraiya looked up, surprised. Well, he was expecting to be called up sometime soon, but wouldn't the old man wait? He sighed. "Alright fine. Sorry kiddos."

Naruto talked with her mouth full of rice, trying to say that it was fine. She was slapped at the back of her head by her pink haired friend, who smiled at the two older men and Anbu. "It's alright." She turned to Naruto, scolding her. "Don't talk with your mouth full!"

* * *

><p>"Yes, I believe that's the best thing to do right now. But we'd have to tell the ninjas straight that it wasn't Naruto or Kyuubi's fault that the attack happened." He referred to the attack twelve years ago on the tenth of October. "I also believe that Naruto would be able to protect herself now from her father's enemies?" He asked them to make sure. He continued on once Jiraiya and Kakashi nodded. "Alright, she would have to, if we want to inform them about her parentage."<p>

Kakashi was the first to speak out of the two. "I think it would be a better idea to tell them everything after the mission to Wave, though. And it would also be best to tell Sasuke, but Naruto should be the one to do it before everyone was informed. Alone." He looked directly into Sarutobi's eyes, "I think he would appreciate it if no one was there to see how he would react, except for her."

The village leader agreed, understanding that this was the best choice. "Yes, that's true. And I believe that Sasuke trusts Naruto most. It wouldn't be good to have people he doesn't know fill up the room." They all turn to the door before it was knocked.

Asuma knocked on the door, as his three students waited obediently behind him. "Come in."

"Good afternoon, Asuma. I see you four have come back from your d-rank mission." They hokage nodded to the three kids in acknowledgement. He nodded, as they came in. He noticed that Kakashi was there, and was rather surprised to see the great toad sage. "Good afternoon, Hokage-sama, Kakashi, Jiraiya-sama." He bowed slightly. Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji looked at the white haired man. Jiraiya? Wasn't he one of the Legendary Sannin? And was it just them, or was the room rather tense?

Asuma looked between the three men. "I'm sorry, have we interrupted something?"

Sarutobi smiled warmly. "No, no. We were just talking about some future arrangements." Asuma raised a brow. Why would Jiraiya come all the way here? Was it urgent?

"Alright, well I'm sure it has gone well?" the team nodded. "Good, now what would you like to do? We have these options open…" Kakashi and Jiraiya shunshined away when they saw Sarutobi nod at them, dismissing them.

* * *

><p>"Naruto, should we ask Sasuke-kun to train with us? It's been quite a while since we've all been together." Naruto nodded.<p>

"But I'll have to work mostly on my chakra level. What were you guys doing while I was gone?"

Sakura thought about it. "Well, we've been walking up trees, but I've started focusing on improving my chakra level. It seems like Sasuke-kun has finished the tree exercise though."

"Alright, let's go find him." She stopped when she remembered something. "Before that though, let's go to my apartment. We need to get some clothes for the training I have in mind." Sakura nodded, wondering what they needed to change for.

"Oi, Sasuke! You in there?" Naruto called as she banged on the door. They heard some shuffling, and stepped back when Sasuke opened the door. "You free?"

"For what?"  
>"Training of course!" Naruto's lips stretched, showing off her million watt grin.<p>

Sasuke raised a brow. "Weren't you busy this week?" He smirked. "You missed out on _team seven's _training. Didn't you just want to see how far below you've gone?"

Naruto's grin dwindled, and her face had a tint of seriousness mixed in. "If I did, I would've just told you. Don't think I'm so shallow to use my team to see my level of strength." There was a tense silence between them for a while. Sasuke's eyes flashed with emotions. Sakura tried to label them. Was that guilt? But Naruto regained her big smile, brightening the atmosphere, replacing the tense one before. "Go grab some extra clothes―we're going to the bathhouse!" Sakura whipped her head to Naruto, who ignored it. Why were they going there? So that was why they needed to bring the clothes?

Sasuke faltered in surprise. The bathhouse? Well, Naruto seemed like she was telling the truth about training. And there's nothing wrong with Sakura now. Training with them…somehow felt like it would be okay. _I have nothing to do now anyways. _He might as well join them. "Hn. What are we training for?" Sakura looked even more worried, while Naruto's face seemed to shine.

"Water walking. I think I'll like to add in some taijutsu once you guys mastered it, though." That caused Sakura and Sasuke to widen their eyes. Was that even possible? Well, tree climbing with only your feet was, so why _not_ water? Their eyes shined in anticipation.

* * *

><p>While Naruto was chattering to them, Sasuke was thinking hard. No, this time it wasn't about what way he shall kill <em>That Man, <em>or how many tomatoes he would buy. No. He sneaked a glance at the blonde who hasn't noticed that he wasn't listening. How the hell did she get stronger than them in such a short time? She missed out on training, and he was sure that her family techniques weren't about chakra control, seeing as how every ninja required learning it.

"And then, and then! Do you know what he said? He told me that this book wasn't for kids your age! Sure, it was made by the same guy who made that pornography series, but Tale of a Gutsy Ninja was his first and non-perverted book! He hasn't even read it, or even the freakin' title! I waited for that book ever since getting―I mean, taking interest in reading!" Naruto whined, showing her frustration through her hand movements. Sakura nodded in understanding, she also had a thing for literature, after all. Naruto blinked. "Oh. We're here already?" She grinned and started running. She stopped and turned towards them. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Sasuke's first attempt at water walking was pathetic. Naruto twitched, and started to violently 'cough'. It was really hilarious to see the normally stoic, arrogant boy shooting out of the water the first time he splashed into it. His yelp was quite high pitched, too. Naruto couldn't contain her laughter very well. Sasuke glared, easily seeing through the act. Sakura's first try was, as expected, impressive for a gennin. Naruto whistled, raising her eyebrows.

"Nice, Sakura. I think you'd make a great _medic_ or genjutsu expert!" Naruto hinted on the 'medic'. Sakura got it, and grinned at the praise. "You know, Sasuke, you don't have to be all moody about it. Gennins aren't really supposed to learn this, after all. This is like, what, a chunin level chakra training?" Naruto tried to reassure Sasuke that he wasn't a failure. The boy looked up at her, drenched in now cold water, surprised that she'd even do that. Sakura got back to the ground, also looking at her blonde friend.

"Then why teach us this? Aren't we going to get into trouble from Kakashi-sensei?" She asked, fearing the punishment. He might make them run ten laps around Konoha again!

"_Well_, you know him. He's lazy, and I doubt he'll teach us much unless we asked, which I'll do my own way." Sasuke and Sakura cringed. "But he probably might teach us some cool jutsus when he gets used to the 'sensei' role anyway, so why not help him out by starting early?" The jinchuuriki shrugged. "Now get back to work!" They glared, but did as she said. Sasuke was still glaring though.

"What about you?"

Naruto blinked in surprise. "Oh yeah, I sorta forgot about myself." She grinned. She jumped to the water, landing on the surface perfectly. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Idiot." Sakura slapped her forehead. Of course Naruto's going to make a retort, causing a pointless argument! Seriously, couldn't Sasuke just keep quiet?

Naruto snickered. This will teach him. She waited until Sasuke was solely focused on his chakra flow, _Now! _She pushed him on the back, forcing him forwards.

"What the―" A satisfying splash. Sakura sighed. This was worse than her usual verbal comeback. Naruto laughed so hard that she started rolling on the water. Sasuke started to break out of the surface, gasping a big breath. "_Naruto…" _He was trembling with fury, causing Naruto to gulp, shutting her mouth. "I'm going to _kill _you, and slice you with my _bare hands." _A tiny 'eep' escaped the blonde's lips. She ran further away from the boy, still standing on the water. Sakura seemed to have gotten the hang of it, and practiced walking. She looked up, and grinned at Naruto, who was as white as a sheep. Apparently, Sakura was too focused on her feet, that she didn't notice Sasuke's killer intent.

"Naruto? Are you okay?" She asked, concerned, oblivious to the flaming boy. Naruto gaped. Her finger shakily pointed behind Sakura, and the pinkette followed where it directed. When she reached the destination, she looked up, only to see Sasuke's eyes _burning _with intensity. She 'eep'ed, much like how Naruto did, and sprinted to the other girl, who acted as a shield.

"No Sakura-chan! _You're_ supposed to save _me!" _

"_GYAHHHHHHH!" _

People in Suna looked around, wondering what that strange noise was.

* * *

><p>Three kids plopped down on the counter of the Ichiraku stand. Teuchi immediately smiled warmly, welcoming his guests.<p>

"Hey there! What can I―Naruto? What happened to your face?" Before the girl answered though, he turned to his daughter. "Ayame, go get her some ice!" She turned to see what their best customer needed the ice for, but squeaked when she saw the bruises on the pretty girl's face. She hurriedly scuttled to the freezer.

"What happened to you?" She asked as she rushed over, grabbing the face of the kid she grew attached to, checking the injuries. Naruto's face scrunched up in pain, which Ayame noticed, judging by how quickly she let go. She gave the blonde the ice pack.

Her thanks were muffled because of the swelling of her cheek and the pain caused from it, so she placed the ice at immediately. Her face was the epitome of bliss as she felt the ice do its trick. She answered their question less painfully. "Some _bastard―_" They noticed how she glared at the black haired boy. "punched me.". Sasuke merely grunted, satisfied that he got his payback. Sakura sighed at her teammates' foolishness then smiled brightly at the shop owners and was the first to order. Naruto quickly followed cue, answering in her boisterous way.

"Miso Ramen with extra pork please, Ol' Man!" Teuchi laughed as Sakura apologized for her teammate's form of disrespect.

He waved it off, "No worries, I know her well enough to know that she isn't lady-like at all." He chuckled at Naruto's betrayed look. Sasuke rolled his eyes and ordered.

As they waited for their noodles, they―Ayame and Teuchi were busy making their meals―talked about some random things. Naruto chattered about Jiraiya, not really hiding anything. She even went as far as to say his name, which Teuchi caught. He didn't say anything, but raised an eyebrow as he watched Naruto go on about how perverted the guy was.

"―even though he's all that, he's really awesome to be around!" She concluded, grinning. Sasuke nodded, and raised a brow.

"So if he's your godfather, why don't you go with him?" He asked, a little jealousy hinted, which everyone noticed.

Naruto gave a sad smile, "He's busy." Sasuke stopped asking then, and they continued talking about other things that changed the sad atmosphere. Teuchi furrowed his brows while working, wondering if the Jiraiya Naruto was talking about was the same as the Sannin's.

"Okay, eat up!" He called as he placed each bowl in front of the kids, happiy noting how all of them brightened up at the sight.

Naruto split her chopsticks, "Itadakimasu!"

"Phew, I'm stuffed!" Naruto sighed as she walked in her casual way, arms behind her head. "What are you guys going to do?" She asked the two, seeing as it was still afternoon.

Sakura smiled, "I'm free before it gets dark, so I might do some more training." Naruto nodded, and they looked expectantly at Sasuke.

"Training."

Naruto grinned, "Yosh! Let's all go back to the training grounds!"

They avoided going to the destructed land and went in the forest area; the three could be found in the vast majority of tall trees. "Since Sasuke's going to train by himself, I want to show you something!" Naruto eagerly dragged Sakura to a tree, and got out gloves from her pouch. "Put these on!" She stuffed them to the girl's hands, who hurriedly wore them.

"Okay, I want you to try bringing your chakra to your hands, and then make it explode out the second before it hits this tree!" Naruto patted the bark, and Sakura furrowed her brows in confusion.

"How much?"

"Try a little first; we don't want you to pop some vessels, but enough to make the tree burst into bits!"

Sakura nodded, "Could you demonstrate?"

"I don't have great chakra control, but I guess I have enough to do it." She walked to another tree, and raised her fist to punch it.

Sakura's eyes widened when she saw the tree break in half from the impact. Naruto came back, cradling "her red knuckles. "This is why you need gloves."

The pinkette nodded, and turned back to her tree, concentrating on her chakra.

She raised her fist, and punched the tree like Naruto.

She couldn't be any happier to see the tree explode, and Naruto pale at the sight of the tree, dodging the splinters. Sasuke happened to come over to see what the commotion was about, and blanched at the sight of the tree.

Naruto chuckled nervously, slowly inching closer to Sasuke, "This time try and aim at the ground, and form a crater."

Sakura did as told, this time adding a little more chakra. "_Shannaro!_"

Sasuke and Naruto lost balance when the ground shook, and fell, both with shocked faces.

The blonde brushed the dirt off of her as she got up, and nearly fell back again in surprise when she saw what Sakura formed. The depression was _huge._ She helped Sasuke up, who reluctantly grabbed her hand.

Naruto looked back at Sakura, who was grinning at her success, "Damn, Sakura, you're even better than I thought." Sakura's mouth stretched even more when she noticed the hint hidden in her words.

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><p>"Naruto? Wasn't your apartment in Sasuke's direction?" Sakura asked as they walked.<p>

"Yeah, but I wanted to go buy some plants." Naruto stopped when they reached the Yamanaka's, and went inside. Sakura went in since she still had time until she had to go back home, anyways.

"Welcome to―Naruto? Sakura?" Ino blinked, surprised. They waved, smiling.

"Hey Ino! I just wanted to buy something green. My house feels lonely."

"Oh, well in that case, how about these?" Ino walked to the corner of the shop, where a bunch of house plants and small trees were placed. Naruto brightened at the sight as she got out her wallet.

"They're awesome!" She looked at the taller plants, and pointed at a ficus. "I'll buy this one!" Ino nodded, and brought the plant to the cashier. Naruto still squatted down, looking at something hard. Ino raised a brow.

"Naruto?" She walked back to see at what she was staring at, and her eyes landed at the pot of blue flowers. Naruto looked up at her and asked the name of those flowers.

"These?" Naruto nodded. "They're forget-me-not flowers, the flowers of true love. What they say is that everything about you is unforgettable―the compassion that shines in your eyes, the intensity you bring to everything you do―and your energy is contagious. You are leaving a very special mark on your world." Ino sighed, and Sakura giggled.

"Those flowers do tell the truth about you, Naruto! No wonder you're attracted to them!" She nudged the blonde, who uncharacteristically blushed.

Naruto bought them and the ficus, much to Ino's pleasure. Naruto looked back at Ino, while Sakura was still looking at the flowers. "Hey, you know, I'm still preparing for the fan girl attacks. Could you tell me why they're not around to kill me?" Ino shuffled awkwardly when she got what Naruto was talking about.

"I didn't tell anyone about it."

"Why?"

Ino turned red, and looked away stubbornly. "I wanted to apologize."

Naruto blinked, not expecting that answer.

"I wanted to apologize for what I said." Ino looked back at her. "Sorry. And I didn't want to be a bitch about what happened, so I didn't shout out to the world."

Naruto nodded unsurely, "It's fine, I was just worried about the insane―I mean _unnatural _Sasuke fans." She hurriedly said when Ino growled.

"Well, now that that's over with, nice meeting you Ino!" Naruto waved as she went out of the store, along with Sakura.

"Bye Ino-pig!" They were already out by the time the Ino exploded.

"FOREHEAD GIRL!"

All Ino heard in reply was Sakura and Naruto's laugh, causing her to erupt even further.

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><p><strong>Terribly sorry if this chapter disappointed you! Please review any suggestions on improving my writing, and no flaming or anything please! T^T <strong>

**HAPPY (ALMOST) NEW YEAR!**


	9. Chapter Nine

**Happy New Year! I kinda need to go soon, and I want to post this up as soon as possible, so I'll keep this short!**

**I LOVE YOU PEOPLE! Thank you so much for all the story alerts, your kind reviews, and for adding this story to your favorites! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the original Naruto (Shippuden****) series.**

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><p>"Hatake Kakashi, I believe your team is ready for a C-rank mission." Sarutobi smiled as Naruto grinned. The past week, she was busy training with Jiraiya, relearning how to do some seals, and mastering Sage mode. It would be quite fun to fight some real ninjas again, she missed the adrenaline pumping in her veins from battles. She high fived her teammates, and Iruka was surprised to see Sasuke returning it. Kakashi bowed, thanking the hokage.<p>

"For your first C-rank mission, you are to escort a man to Waves." Everyone turned to see the door opening, revealing a rather drunk old man. The man frowned, as he sent calculating looks on the three kids.

"These are my escorts? A bunch of kids?" He laughed, "Why, that stupid looking kid over there seems like she can't even hurt a fly! Seriously, a ninja in orange?"

A tick landed on Naruto's temple, how could she forget Tazuna's attitude? Her fists shook, and her teammates shook their heads. Before Naruto could try and pulverize the drunkard, Kakashi laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure Naruto could handle any _bandits or thugs_, Tazuna-san. She can go against ninja very well, I assure you." Tazuna twitched. "Her teammates as well, they have been training hard and I have big faith in them. If that still doesn't convince you, I'll let you know that I'm a jounin, and am very capable in fighting off enemies." The three grinned/smirked, and Tazuna huffed.

"Hn. You better be telling the truth."

"It's not like there would be any ninjas on a C-rank mission anyways." Tazuna twitched again, but didn't let anything show on his face.

The third hokage coughed in his hand, gaining everyone's attention, "Team Seven, you are to escort Tazuna to back to Waves. You will start tomorrow morning, _early_ at Seven AM." He turned to Kakashi, "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" He eye smiled.

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><p>They did some extra training as a precaution for tomorrow's mission, and Sasuke wondered if it was normal for a mission to go wrong, since he has noticed that Kakashi seemed to be preparing them for a higher ranked mission and such.<p>

He told his two female teammates, and Naruto merely said, "Meh, he's just paranoid." Naruto stretched as she sat in a splits, "But it _is _possible―though it's not very common―that a mission could be bumped up to a higher rank because the client lied about it so that he or she could get a cheaper price."

There it is again. Sasuke knew it. That was usually what Sakura would have said, being the more knowledgeable kunoichi. Naruto was supposed to be the one who skipped out on classes and never listened in class, so how did she know that? It's possible―and the most likely―that she was smarter than she let on, pretending to be the dead last of the class. _But it seems like there was more to it than that._

Naruto started practicing her taijutsu on a wooden post, and Sasuke noticed how much it has improved since the academy, when they were put against each other. Her moves were sharper and clearer than the ones she used before, her posture was clear―it wasn't the sloppy, randomly thought up stance that she used in the academy. Her kicks had strength, and his eyes were having a hard time keeping up with her movements.

Sasuke wanted to spar with her, to see how he would fare with the way she was now. He approached her, and waited until Naruto was done. She raised a brow, and stopped.

"Do you need something, Sasuke?"

"Spar with me."

She blinked, the words ringing in her head over and over, and her parted lips stretched into a wide grin. "What kind of spar?"

"Taijutsu, nothing else."

Sakura watched the exchange along with her sensei, her face breaking into a bright smile. She ignored the loud cheering from her inner self and watched with anticipation.

They stood, ready for the other to attack, in silence. Naruto, after realizing he wasn't going to start, pushed the toes of her feet on the ground as she gained speed. Sasuke tensed but dodged her fist, and crouched as his leg stretched to do a sweep. The girl jumped and slammed her foot on his shoulder in mid air before drawing it back quickly, avoiding his hands from grasping it. Sasuke clutched his shoulder in pain, but recovered fast enough to dodge another attack. She landed close to him, and he aimed a punch at her stomach while he still had the chance. She choked, collapsing on the floor, before getting up again. She slouched, still in pain from the hit. She did a series of dodges as Sasuke tried to land punches and kicks on her until she finally got her strength back.

They exchanged blows until Naruto slipped on a rock, falling backwards, ending the match pathetically.

Sakura and Sasuke face-palmed, as Kakashi sighed. Naruto muttered strings of colorful words and curses as she threw the cause of her loss into the sky, pleased when it never came back down.

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><p><em>The next day<em>

There they were, all gathered up at the gate and ready to go, at exactly seven in the morning. They walked along the road, and team seven noticed the puddle. They passed it, pretending not to notice.

The enemies flew by, ripping "Kakashi" to shreds, much to Tazuna, Sasuke, and the two pretending females' horror. Sakura stood in front of the client as Sasuke and Naruto proceeded to beat the chunins.

Naruto and Sasuke were great at teamwork. They were well synchronized; their movements benefited each other as they worked perfectly as a team. Naruto pulled on the chains as Sasuke bashed the two enemy ninjas' head together as the finishing move.

Kakashi appeared with a cloud of smoke, a log in place of where he formerly stood. He looked at the kids, eye smiling, "Great work, team. Sakura, you did well in rushing to protect the client. Naruto, Sasuke, nice teamwork. You all did very well, I'm proud." The three grinned, Sasuke's was more of a smirk though. He looked back at Tazuna, "I didn't participate in the fight to see what those two―" he pointed at the tied up Demon Brothers, "―were after." Tazuna cowered at the silver haired jounin's gaze. "Tell me, Tazuna-san. Why were there enemy ninjas―chunins, no less―on a mission as simple as the one we were called for?"

The bridge builder confessed, and apologized. They agreed to help him and his country, much to the man's relief.

The encounter with Zabuza happened very much like it did in the future, except Kakashi didn't use his Sharingan as much thanks to Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Kakashi wasn't knocked out as long as he would have been had it not been for the changes, so they had a longer time to train. Even with the changes, Naruto met Haku on the same time and place the morning after her outburst to Inari.

All in all, it was going on much like the Waves mission Naruto used to do, until Naruto showed up at the bridge.

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><p>"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Konoha's number one unpredictable, hyperactive, knuckleheaded ninja, dattebayo!"<p>

Sasuke face-palmed. That idiot!

Sakura grinned, there's the hero. Kakashi eye smiled. "Go help Sasuke, Naruto, and when you're done, help me out with Zabuza."

"Got'cha!"

Zabuza chuckled evilly, "They won't stand a chance against Haku. Are you alright with that?"

Kakashi smirked, "I won't judge those kids so quickly if I were you. Sasuke's the last Uchiha, and there's more to Naruto than anyone would believe."

The missing nin's eyes widened a fraction, and raised a non-existent brow at the last part. "Oh? Like what?"

Kakashi's smirk widened, "Classified information."

Naruto knew that the only way to shatter the mirrors was to draw on the Kyuubi's chakra from experience, but that would take time. She didn't have that, unless, "Sasuke! Could you cover for me? I need some time here."

"Idiot! Do you think I could do that when I'm also trying to cover for myself?"

"Just do it!"

Not waiting for his reply, she sat on the ground, and started meditating. Sasuke dashed to her, "Idiot! Don't just sit there!" He blocked the senbons aimed at them, frustrated.

_Almost! _Naruto ran through the corridors of her mindscape, and reached the fox.

_"Kyuubi! Please, again?"_

The demon growled, **"You should try and rely more on your powers, spoiled brat."**

_"Hey! I managed to get control of your chakra with mom's help, so that counts as my work too!"_

"Naruto!" Her eyes snapped open, her form being covered in chakra, looking like flames with strange lines across her body.

"What the hell?" Sasuke mumbled as he took in her appearance.

She looked determinedly at the mirrors, staring at Haku's mask. "Thanks, Sasuke."

"Ha!" She made claws out of the chakra surrounding her, each of them grabbing a mirror. Her arms spread wide, hands open. She closed them, and so did the chakra-claws.

The mirrors shattered along with the jutsu, leaving behind shining and glittering pieces of ice. Haku stood in front of them, as Sasuke got out of his stupor and glared.

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

Naruto smiled, "I know." She stared at Haku, before she sighed. "Haku, I know Gatoh's plan. He never intended to pay you two, and was planning on assassinating you after you finished your job." Haku was still for a moment, scanning Naruto's face then took of his mask, revealing a feminine face.

"How are you so sure?"

"That, I can't say. But it would be proven some time soon when he comes with the thugs."

Sasuke tried to put everything together like a puzzle with too many missing pieces. Haku tried to find any hint of lies on the girl's face, before disappearing.

"Naruto, what the hell is going on?" Sasuke demanded, as Naruto merely shook her head.

"No time, come on."

"Sakura!" She turned to find her two teammates, safe and sound, but widened her eyes at Naruto's appearance, as did Tazuna, although for different reasons.

"Naruto? What…" He trailed off, stunned.

"I don't have time to explain right now! Haku most likely went to assist Zabuza or something!" She furrowed her brows. "Sakura, I want you to be on higher alert, since they're probably arriving soon. I have no intention on killing the two, and I have no idea if they're on our side or not, so Tazuna's still in danger."

Sakura nodded, swallowing slowly. "Alright, you two can go now. Be careful."

"Thanks, you too."

Sasuke frowned. His teammates knew something he didn't, but this wasn't the time. He followed the blonde, and saw Zabuza _talking_ to Kakashi with Haku by his side.

Kakashi was getting tired of repeating the same thing over and over, "Like I said, Naruto is more than she lets on. You would see proof in a moment―"

He was interrupted by a squeaky voice, "Well, well. It looks like you didn't finish the job, Zabuza." He laughed, disgusting the group. "No matter, I have enough hands at this anyways. They're a lot cheaper than missing ninjas." He smirked, "Although I wasn't planning on paying."

Naruto pointed dramatically at him, "Ha! See? What did I tell you, Haku?"

The pretty boy nodded, his fake smile directed at the short man. "It seems like I owe you an apology, Naruto-san." He glared, his killing intent suffocating Gatoh. "Zabuza-sama, may I?"

The smirk on the missing nin's face was visible through the mask. "Go for it."

Team Seven, along with Tazuna, watched in amazement as the apprentice singlehandedly defeated a bunch of thugs, and was on his way to the short, chubby man.

"Haku, catch!" Naruto, now back to normal, shouted as she threw a kunai his way. The boy caught it without looking back, eyes fixed on his prey.

Gatoh's cries were heard from all five nations.

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><p>In the end, the thugs were scared away by the villagers Inari assembled, along with the multiple shadow clones Naruto created. Zabuza and Haku were saved, and now in debt to Konoha. Inari changed drastically, from Mr. Moody to the cheerful, brave, hope-filled optimist. Tazuna named the bridge "The Great Naruto Bridge" which earned loud cheers from the town.<p>

Team Seven, along with Zabuza and Haku, were now on their way back to Konoha after being away for a whole week. Sakura became less wary around the two former enemies, and started engaging in a conversation with Haku on herbs. Sasuke stayed quiet, Kakashi told him to wait until they get back, as Naruto promised to tell him everything. The blonde chirped happily about random things, talking about how she met Konohamaru, and her training with Jiraiya. Kakashi, Sasuke and Zabuza listened in amusement, although the latter two didn't show it.

They relayed the mission in detail to the hokage once they have arrived at his office. Sarutobi listened, his face serious and calm. Kakashi had been explaining the most as Sasuke told him what had happened just before Naruto came.

"We're in great debt to this village. Had it not been for Kakashi-san's team, we would have been killed." Haku said as he bowed, "We owe our lives to Naruto-san. She told us what was going to happen, and was willing to save us, despite being enemies."

The hokage smiled at the two missing ninjas, much to their surprise, "You may stay in Konoha, if you agree to our terms, and I can try to talk with Mizukage-dono. Konoha is quite peaceful, and a comfortable place to settle. If you do stay here, however, I'll have to let the village know, and I'm not so sure how they would react. We would have you under surveillance, of course, for the year, until we are fully certain about you two."

Zabuza got on his knees, Haku following suit, and expressed his gratitude deeply, "Thank you. We would stay loyal to only Konoha."

The hokage laughed, "You may get up now. I would like all of you back here in three hours, including you two. We will be having a meeting along with our chunin and jounin shinobi to explain the truth about everything." Sasuke raised a brow, as Zabuza and Haku's eyes widened. Why were they also being informed? "Naruto, I believe you will be telling Sasuke about it before though, am I right?"

Naruto nodded, smiling sadly at Sasuke, for what, the boy wasn't sure.

But he'll be finding out soon.

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><p>Naruto and Sasuke stood alone at the Uchiha clan's main house. It felt lonely, almost like a haunted mansion, especially since people have died inside the house and out. Naruto, in an oddly quiet and polite tone, asked to be taken to Itachi's room. Sasuke realized that this was very hard for her ever since they started walking into the Uchiha district, either out of pity, or something else he didn't know about.<p>

He showed her to it reluctantly, trying to control his emotions. He wanted answers after all.

Everything was left untouched, Naruto mused, dust collected everywhere. The bed was already made, a thick layer of dust covered it, and there wasn't anything left around, out of place, anywhere. Either Itachi was an extremely organized person―which was highly likely―or his mom cleaned the room. Sasuke said that he hasn't entered the room ever since the massacre.

She walked across the room, to Itachi's desk, when she noticed a photo frame facing down. She picked it up, and nearly cried.

It was a picture of their family, and Sasuke was next to Itachi, smiling brightly. Itachi had a slight tug at the lips, smiling faintly.

She knew she was stalling, and that she shouldn't be, seeing as they only had a few hours, but she didn't know how to break it to him. She didn't know how to start, how to put it into words, how to say it without making him hate the village.

She swallowed harshly. She knew she had to do this, and decided to go straight to it.

"I…" She bit her lip, "I need―" She choked, it was hard for her to breath, "―to tell you the truth about the Uchiha Massacre."

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><p><strong>I know it's short, I'm sincerely sorry about that. I plan on updating soon, however. I know it was kind of cruel to leave you with that ^.^"<strong>

**Does it seem to be too rushed? 'Cause I thought replaying the whole Waves thing was going to be boring for the readers, so I skipped it and all... Did I skip out too much?**

**Oh and how was the spar between Sasuke and Naruto? I'm really not sure how my writing is, especially in fighting scenes, so I'm not really confident about that, either...**

**If you have any good advice on how to improve my writing please do tell me! HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR!**


	10. Chapter Ten

**Hi! Sorry for the long absence! I was kinda having a messed up time, and I also had to work on the other story (It's got more reviews than this one already! I'm so proud *sniffle*). Thanks for your faves, story alerts, and reviews! I love you all! **

**WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR (VERY) RECENT CHAPTERS.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto (Shippuden) series. **

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><p>"I came from the future by some type of technique I created, combining three space-time ninjutsus. You're going to hear the whole story later, so I'll skip to the stuff you'll need to be prepared for." Sasuke kept quiet, stunned. His teammate―his <em>friend <em>was really a time traveler, probably years older than him, in disguise?

"You killed your brother, but learned the truth of why he killed the clan soon after. Itachi was a spy for the village to see how the clan was acting. He loved peace, and was disgusted by the clan's plans of a coup d'état for spite." Sasuke clutched his head, eyes wide, as he listened. His breathing quickened as she went on.

"Fugaku, your father, planned to get revenge for all those years of the clan being shunned by the village. Before the Nine Tails attacked the village, the clan was already quite distant from the people, because of its history, and the clan was also being thumbed down by the elders. After the Kyuubi… attacked the village, its people grew suspicious of the clan, shunning them completely because they were strangely absent. Fugaku's anger grew tenfold, going as far as to plan a coup against it and the Senju clan.

"The third hokage learned about this from Itachi, and the council wondered what they should do. Danzo, was an elder of Konohagakure and leader of the supposedly disbanded Root Anbu. It turned out that he had a secret Root organization, and Itachi was part of it. Itachi was ordered by Danzo to assassinate the clan before the Hokage even decided yet, for the safety of the village."

Sasuke shook uncontrollably, grief filling him up along with hatred and anger against the village. He sat on Itachi's bed as he whispered, "Itachi killing the clan… was a mission?" He glared at the blonde, "How would I know if this is true? He told me he did it as a test of his power!"

Naruto looked down, her usually sky blue eyes darkening to a sea blue, "Itachi asked me once… If I had to kill you because you planned on destroying the village, would I do it? I told him no at that time, not really understanding what he meant, that I would save you from the darkness and I would still protect the village. He _smiled _at the answer, but I didn't get it. I didn't know the truth about the clan―everything―then.

"I found out about all of this only after Itachi died and you started hating the village for what it had done to your brother. I found out from the very same man who told you. He was the man who ruined my life from the very moment I was born. He stomped on the happiness I could have gotten, killing it, squashing it to dirt. He even took you away from us. I still have many other reasons why I hate him so much." Naruto banged her fist on the desk before calming down, and her hand retreated back to her side.

"When I met Itachi again―he was dead, but I would be explaining that later―he told me he was happy with my answer. He told me that he'd put his faith on me, and believed that I would be able to save you." Naruto clenched her hands, sobbing as she slid on the floor. Sasuke let his tears fall, but didn't let out a sound.

Naruto choked out, "Look Sasuke, I want you to know that Itachi loved the village very much. He wanted the village safe and wanted peace, after seeing war." She wiped her face with her sleeve and stood back up. "He sacrificed his happiness for it, he sacrificed everything important to him―all except you." Sasuke's eyes widened as he looked up at Naruto, who sat by his side on the bed.

"He loved you too much, more than the village. He wanted you to be free from scorn, so he threatened the council to keep it all a secret, and disgraced himself, becoming a missing nin." Naruto held his hand, "He also threatened that if anything were to happen to you he would kill them."

Sasuke clutched it like a lifeline as Naruto spoke the next words, "He cares for you and loves you so much that he would sacrifice everything just to keep you safe. He wanted the best for you, and he willingly sacrificed his bond with you for you."

She smiled as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. She whispered softly, "_Itachi loves his dear brother._"

For the first time in nearly five years, Sasuke hugged someone back tightly and cried.

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><p>The first thing everyone in the office noticed from the two kids was their puffy, bloodshot red eyes, the effect from crying. They were shocked to say the least, when they realized that those two kids were Sasuke and Naruto. Sakura and Kakashi's eyes softened, as they walked past, the chunin and jounin ninjas making way.<p>

Hiruzen coughed into his hand to gain everyone's attention, "I have gathered you all here today to inform you of Naruto's heritage, and what she has to say."

Naruto stepped forward, and looked straight at the crowd as he continued, "We haven't announced this in fear of her safety, because of who her father is." Naruto took a deep breath. "Naruto's full name is Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto."

Many gasped at this, while the others were confused. Naruto closed her eyes.

"Her father is Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage. Konoha's Yellow Flash."

The people who didn't get it at first got it now and stared at the blonde as if she had two heads. Sasuke turned to Naruto, eyes wide.

"My father sealed the furball, the Nine Tails in me, having faith in me. Dad believed that I would be able to control him, and I did." Sasuke, Zabuza and Haku's eyes bulged out. Haku now understood, it made sense; the orange cloak around her from their fight.

Genma, who had been at the front, asked, "So you can control the Nine Tails? And you're on good terms with it?"

Naruto grinned, "Although he never admits it, we're pals! You know, he really isn't so bad, although his breath stinks and―okay, okay, geez!" She rubbed her temple, confusing the poor ninjas in the room. "Well, anyways, I'm about to tell you what really happened on the day of my birth. It's not what you think it is, either." The crowd of chunins and jounins exchanged glances, before redirecting their attention back to the blonde. The girl closed her eyes, and, after a while, she was covered in flames.

An orange-red cloak covered her being, and it took everyone a moment to realize that it was the _Kyuubi's chakra_. They looked in awe, as Naruto spoke again.

"I need a lot of chakra for the jutsu I'm going to use, and I want everyone to be calm. Don't freak out, because it would be really hard for me to keep all of you together." She frowned, before looking around. "Could everyone huddle together a little?" Everyone complied, the other people behind her going into the crowd, wondering what the technique was.

Naruto bit her thumb, drawing blood out of the wound. She furrowed her brows in concentration as she got out a sealing paper from her pouch, placing it on the floor. She wrote various lines and curves with the red substance on the slip.

Once done, she flashed her hands through various hand seals, the seal in her mouth. Placing the paper between her fingers in a right half sheep seal, the other withdrawn to her chest, she thrust it towards the group.

"**Kioku toho no jutsu!"**

They were all blinded by a white light, surrounding them, enveloping them in its warmth. Their eyes were screwed shut, and they opened them slowly when the blinding brightness was gone.

They were greeted with a snout. A very large, red furred snout, with a black nose, and black lips. They slowly brought their eyes up, only to see flaming red, demonic eyes stare back at them. It took them a minute until they finally jumped―fell and scurried―back.

They were mere meters away from the _very large_ and _very real _Nine Tailed Fox.

Sasuke widened his eyes, being at the very front of everyone. A random chunin held him back, "What the hell?"

"Relax, geez." A voice came from behind the red fox, as a flash of yellow popped up from above the Kyuubi's head. "I'm right here. Kurama won't hurt you, so don't sweat it―"

The same chunin glared, "How can we not be afraid? It is the very reason―"

She glared and interrupted him back, "_He _has a _name. _Kurama, you dolt. I just said it, and it wasn't very long ago that I said what happened is _not _what you think."

That shut the man up, and she sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about snapping, but I want to get this done with quickly." She jumped off, and landed gracefully. She turned to her teammates, before looking at the Hokage. "Everyone follow me."

They walked after her, and were now in front of a locked up door. It was covered in chains and locks, everything made of metal. If it wasn't for the metallic plate at the top reading "Memories" they would have thought that they were tricked into the T&I department.

Naruto brought her hand before the door, and the chains quickly withdrew to their holes, the locks clicked. The door flew open, revealing a white room. She went in and the others followed slowly, looking around. Once the last of the people were inside, the door slammed shut, once again giving them an uneasy feeling of being trapped.

"As you saw on the door, this room is where my memories lie. We would see through them like a ghost, we can't touch anything that goes on in the memory, and everything would go through us. I'll be starting from my battle with Kurama, just before I got control."

She disappeared, and they all turned to the large demon and an older, seventeen year old Naruto slowly appearing. The blonde was clutching at her soul, which the Kyuubi's was grabbing hold of. They blinked as voices boomed and growled angry thoughts. Naruto yelped and whimpered out in pain as she clutched her head as the voices grew louder.

"_I hate them! Why won't they see _me? _Why do they… it's always the same! The same eyes, all the time!" _

"_I'll get revenge!"_

"_I hate this! I hate _everything!"

"_Make it stop!"_

Naruto choked, "Make it stop…" Iruka stepped forward in concern, his frown getting deeper as the pain in the voices grew.

The same voice as the seventeen year old Naruto's boomed, yet it was darker, more sinister.

"_Doesn't it make you sick, that the village suddenly gets all happy and comfy around you? That they suddenly respect you after all those years of wanting you dead?"_

The group widened their eyes, as other voices got stronger. The adults recognized what was happening, before some looked away in shame. Sakura and Sasuke looked horrified.

"_Stay away!"_

"_Die, monster!"_

"_You should never have existed!"_

Naruto crumpled to the floor, whimpering, "Stop!" The voices still continued, booming and echoing as it bounced off the walls.

"_Go away, demon!"_

"No, you can stay right here," Everyone whipped their heads to a beautiful woman, who had long, flowing red hair. She smiled softly, her voice almost angelic, "Naruto."

The tailed beast was gone, and all that was left was both women, including the group. Kakashi and Hiruzen widened their eyes. "That's…"

Naruto looked up, tears evident. "Who are you?"

The lady giggled, "Take a guess."

By now, the people unnoticed by the two realized who she was. They had the same face, except for the colors. Naruto frowned, before widening her eyes, "You're…"

The woman grinned eagerly, "I'm…" The group of ninjas leaned forwards, anticipating her reaction.

"You're the Kyuubi in disguise, aren't you!" Everyone fell over; the supposed to be touching moment shattering after those words were spoken out in accusation.

The redhead bopped the blonde, "Hell no! I'm Uzumaki Kushina, idiot!"

The blonde gasped, as her teammates face palmed, "You're my…"

"If you're trying to say mother, then ye―"

She was cut off when the girl ran up to hug her tightly. Everyone smiled at the sweet scene before them.

The scene faded, and the twelve year old jinchuuriki appeared again, scratching her cheek as she grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, so she's my mom, sorry about that… I guess I went back too far… I don't have great chakra control right now. So, now's the part where she tells what really happened on October the tenth, twelve years ago, and a little of the Uzumaki clan's history."

She flashed away again, as the two females appeared in her place. They were sitting down, serious faced.

Kushina explained patiently, Naruto was silent, and the team reeled back in shock, except for the people who already heard of it. Sasuke's legs gave in as he collapsed on the ground, realizing just _how _Naruto had her happiness stripped away from her, all from one man.

The chunins that had hated Naruto before were ashamed of themselves, at how they put all the blame on her. They blatantly ignored the Fourth's wishes, and treated her as the demon itself.

Everything returned to the empty white room again, and Naruto was back in front of them. "Jiji, may I reveal Itachi's mission?"

The man nodded solemnly, and the scenery changed to a snowy wooden building. Yamato, Kakashi, and Naruto appeared, along with a man trapped in wood. He wore an orange mask, and a black cloak with red clouds. The people recognized him from the descriptions Kushina gave, and glared immediately.

The hateful looks were wiped off their faces though, when he said the truth behind the Uchiha massacre. They were left with horror etched into their faces, Kakashi's team and Sarutobi grim faced. Many shot a glance at the boy from the clan mentioned, before they studied their dear leader's face in clarification.

They were met with a hard, tired look, making the old man seem more like his age. They turned to gauge in the reactions of Team Seven, but noticed that they were all serious faced, but not surprised.

"_The fate of the Uchiha and Senju clans… Sasuke and Naruto's destiny is to fight each other to the death, as the last of the ancestor's descendants." _

The flashback faded, leaving behind the white room and the group of Konoha ninja. Zabuza and Haku were still wondering why the hell they were being informed, but didn't voice it.

Naruto's voice brought them out of their thoughts, and they looked around to find that they were back in the office. "He wasn't Uchiha Madara as he claimed to be. During the Fourth Great Shinobi war, he told me he was no one, and he didn't _want _to be anyone." Naruto's fist shook in rage, as people recovered from the fact that there was another war, and they looked at her worriedly.

"To me, the hosts and the Tailed Beasts, that's a really big deal. I… We _jinchuuriki―_" she spat the word out. "―know what it's like to feel so much pain from loneliness. Everyone in our villages hates us for something we couldn't control, they ignore our existence. I guess I was lucky, compared to the others, that I didn't get assassination attempts." She ignored the large intakes of breath. "But anyways, we want―_need―_people to acknowledge that we're there. That's why I acted like a fool. To get attention, even negative ones. I didn't care as long as someone saw me, and didn't see _through _me."

She willed her trembling hands to stop, as she tried to contain her anger at the thought of the man. "Hearing him say that he didn't want nor need anyone to acknowledge him made me hate him more than I already did. It was only after that did I learn that all the Tailed Beasts had names, names that the Sage of Six Paths thought up for them. I learned it from the Four Tails, Son Goku, and he was a proud ape." Naruto smiled to herself. "A while after that, me and the furball somehow formed a kind of friendship. To be honest, I was jealous of Killer Bee and the Eight Tails, who were great pals under their quarrels and insults. I wanted to have that with Kurama. I wanted to joke around with him, have fun with him." She grinned at them, making them astonished at how bright her smiles could be. "I think I'm a really lucky girl to have him sealed in me."

The beast smirked as his eyes closed, his head resting on his paws from his place. The people in the room stood frozen, before their lips quirked up. Naruto was oblivious to the smiles, however, and laughed sheepishly.

"Hehe, sorry I kind of went a little off topic. So, um, yeah." She ended awkwardly, not knowing what else to say.

"Pft." Everyone looked down at the two kids in the room, blinking in surprise as Sasuke and Sakura held their laughs. Sakura was barely containing it, though.

Naruto huffed, crossing her arms on her chest. "Glad to see you got a kick out of it." She changed her face, setting it to match her seriousness, before looking at the group as a whole. "I hope you all keep this a secret?"

Iruka gaped, as did many others, "Why, Naruto? Wouldn't it be good to stop the glares and hateful remarks of the civilians? They need to know―"

"No, they don't. I don't want this to be spread around; otherwise it would reach the Akatsuki. The group where _he_ is hiding, and the group that is hunting me―the jinchuuriki―down." She looked back, out the window to see the bustling villagers. "And also, I want to make them acknowledge me with my own achievements again."

The group looked at each other, before shrugging and smiling at their new and old friend.

Naruto scratched the back of her head, "I need to tell―show―you some more things that messed up the future." She got everyone's undivided attention and continued. "It's about the Fourth Great Shinobi War."

Somehow, the ninjas knew that this wasn't a normal kind of war. Nothing in Naruto's time period was ever normal though, was it?

* * *

><p>Everyone was out of the door once the meeting was over, drained and exhausted by Naruto's story, except Sasuke, making the blonde raise a brow.<p>

"Sasuke?"

He knit his eyebrows close, frowning, before dragging her out of the tower, Naruto shouting obscenities the whole time. "Sasuke! Hold up, and tell me where we're going before I kick you where it hurts!"

He let her go abruptly, making her trip over her own foot. "Sorry."

She snorted, "I can walk, you know." She dusted herself off the ground. "So? Where are we going?"

"Bring me to your house."

She paused, before looking at him strangely, "Huh?"

He furrowed his brows irritably, "I said, take me to your house."

She spluttered, before finally getting a grasp on words, "W-Why would you want to go there?"

"I'll tell you when we get there."

They walked in silence, and Naruto fiddled with her keys. Once inside the apartment, she went to the kitchen. "Want anything?"

"No thanks."

She poured herself a cup of orange juice, before shoving him a cup of it as well. "I don't like _not _serving a guest."

He rolled his eyes, but took it gratefully anyways. "I want to know about your childhood, using the jutsu from earlier."

Naruto stopped drinking, before setting the cup down slowly. Her eyes were guarded, as she quietly asked, "Why?"

"I want to know more about you."  
>Naruto widened her eyes, before letting out a hollow laugh, "It's better if you chose a different topic, Sasuke." She scowled when he kept his stubborn attitude.<p>

"How would I know more about you, my teammate, if you won't show me what it was like for you when you were younger?"

She growled, "Fine. But don't expect too much. It's probably most of the stuff you've seen before anyway."

Naruto did the same thing as before, and Sasuke found himself already inside the room. He raised a brow, and Naruto answered the unspoken question.

"I'm only summoning one person into my mind, so it's easier to bring you here than it was with the group." She turned to the middle of the room, before disappearing. Sasuke shut his eyes when a sudden light flashed, before opening them to see the village streets.

"Hey, hey, isn't that her?" He turned his gaze to the owner of the voice, huffing at how loud it was, when it was meant to be a mere whisper. He laid his eyes on two women, and glared at their intense hatred towards the seven year old girl.

"Yeah, _that _kid."

"Hah, she should just disappear to save us all from the trouble of the mon―"

"Shh! Do you want to get yourself killed?"

Sasuke watched the other civilians surrounding the young Naruto, and saw that they all had the same angry eyes. He couldn't help but feel isolated, despite that it wasn't directed at him.

_It's always that look. Every single time!_

He glanced at Naruto after hearing her thoughts and saw that she was glaring back at the people around her. "What's so different about me?" She barely spoke, nearly a whisper. "Why does everyone…" She clutched the ends of her shirt, now glaring at the ground. Sasuke looked away, but snapped his head back at the blonde after hearing her outburst.

"Yeah, well, I'll show you all! I'll be the greatest hokage, and you'll all give me the damn respect I deserve!" Naruto yelled out, before running to the direction of her house. Sasuke looked around him to see that the people were scoffing at her.

"Hokage? Pft, in her dreams. Monsters don't deserve any respect."

"You should stop it at that! Remember the law?"

The memory faded away, and Naruto appeared in a blur. "Happy? I don't have many happy memories before team seven, and this is all I could think of right now."

Sasuke bit his lip, "Then show me your old team seven."

Naruto chuckled without any humor, a distant look in her eyes, "My old team seven, huh?" She laughed, "Not many happy times… we never really went out all together, and we were like a broken one. It wasn't until the Chunin Exams that we worked well. So... nah."

Sasuke frowned, before he knit his eyebrows together, "How about me and you?" Her reaction surprised him.

Naruto brightened up considerably at that, "We were great, although rough at first. You acknowledged me as an equal in the exam, and all that stuff… but it's private. I want to keep it to myself, thank you very much." She grinned. "Besides, with you guys, I'll make new memories, and better ones."

Sasuke's lips were tugging down, before it loosened and worked its way up at the last sentence. Naruto laughed and gave him her softest smile.

Sasuke didn't want the warm feeling in his chest to go away. He frowned, trying to distract himself with something. "Hey, Naruto, what was the name of the Nine Tails?" Well, he was honestly curious. "I don't think it's polite to keep calling him a 'beast' or 'demon.'"

Judging from the look on her face, she was delighted he asked. "Kurama. His name's Kurama." She grinned, and Sasuke cursed the throb in his chest.

Not that he didn't like it.

Naruto brought them back to the apartment, before pausing as she remembered, "Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"What are you going to do… about Itachi?"

Sasuke smiled sadly, making Naruto's heart constrict. "I would like to get him back."

Naruto took hold of his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'll help, if you want; Sakura and Kakashi-sensei are here, too. You won't be alone."

He squeezed back, "Thanks."

He left without saying another word seeing as it was already quite late. Naruto sighed before going to her kitchen to grab something to eat for dinner.

* * *

><p><strong>I guess this chapter kinda disappointed you... It does seem kind of boring so I'm so sorry! :'( Please give some feedback, advice, and no flames please! I'll try to update this every Saturday, and if it works, then that would be the schedule (and also for the other story).<strong>

**B.T.W. 'Kioku Toho no Jutsu' literally means 'Memory Walking Technique' or something along those lines...**


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Hey, everyone! This chapter is a lot more than half an hour late... sorry. Thank you for your reviews, alerts, and favorites! Again, I love you all x3**

**Master of Darkness and Light: Thank you so much for pointing that out! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto (shippuden) series, and any of the characters in it. **

* * *

><p>Now that Sasuke knew, Team Seven trained harder than ever, preparing in the last month they had before the Chunin Exams. Sasuke is determined to get stronger on his own without the snake's help, along with the help of his comrades. He resolved to find his brother, and to get things right.<p>

He won't do the same mistakes as his future self did.

Sasuke's attitude and personality took quite a change; he was more open, talked a little more. He wasn't as loud as Naruto, of course, but his social skills were improving slowly. He smiled more often, not the smirks and half smiles he would give. He didn't outright grin, but he was getting there.

Sakura worked hard to get her chakra levels higher as well as her stamina, working for endless hours in the training grounds, also keeping up to date with the books. She was getting stronger with each passing day, and her chakra control was amazing for a genin as well as chunin. She also started getting some medical ninjutsu lessons from the hospital, Kakashi introducing her to one of the medic nins working there.

Naruto continued working on her Sage mode, the time it consumed to gather the natural energy growing smaller. It wasn't improving at a rapid speed, but it was still impressive for a twelve year old―or a seventeen year old trapped inside a twelve year old body. Naruto managed to retain all of her abilities from the Nine Tails mode, after training with the fox for a week.

The three all stood at the meeting place, and Naruto remembered that the bridge they were on was where Kakashi would announce them being signed up for the exams. They all fidgeted, excited and impatient.

"Yo." As usual, Kakashi appeared with a poof, crouching on the red fence of the bridge. He was sporting an eye smile, holding three slips of paper in his fingers.

His three students beamed at the sight of them and gingerly took it, as if it would crumble to pieces.

Naruto smiled, her eyes crinkling, "We won't disappoint you, Kakashi-sensei, believe it."

* * *

><p>Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura eye twitched at the sight of a large, perfectly <em>square <em>rock.

It had two eyeholes, too.

Naruto rolled her eyes, twirling her golden locks with her finger, "Hey, Konohamaru." The three could _see _the rock _tense, _before a muffled, childish voice escaped from the box.

"As expected of my rival!"

The box exploded, purple smoke and bits of confetti surrounded the three academy students. They erupted into fits of coughs, waving away the clouds, as Sakura and Sasuke squinted to take a better look at them.

The three wore the same dark green goggles Naruto wore in the academy. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon did their dramatic introduction.

The three kids tagged along with the older team, until they bumped into Kankuro.

"Bunch of brats, eh?" Naruto frowned; this was supposed to happen before Kakashi gave them those permission slips… She shook her head, dismissing it.

"Let go of me, weirdo!" Konohamaru squirmed from the puppeteer's grip on his shirt. Naruto frowned, as well as Temari.

"Kankuro, you should stop. We aren't supposed to cause trouble."

Kankuro ignored her, looking at Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. "You guys entering the chunin exams, too?"

Sakura nodded for them, "Yes, we are. If I'm not mistaken, you three are from Suna."

Temari rolled her eyes, "Thank you for stating the obvious. Yes, we are, can't you see the headbands?"  
>"Sorry, we didn't know Suna's gennin could be so immature." Sasuke pointedly stared at the black clad boy.<p>

Before Kankuro can retort, however, Naruto spoke, "So is the guy in the tree your third teammate?" She raised a brow as Gaara appeared with sand. "That's a lot of KI you're leaking there."

Sasuke snorted, and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "show off." Naruto glared, as Sakura tried to hide her giggle. Gaara narrowed his teal eyes, looking at the blonde as he soaked in her appearance.

Kankuro and Temari did the same, although a little nervously at the presence of their younger brother. The girl was a little short, and kind of cute. Her two sunny ponytails and striking blue only added to her charm. They ignored the three younger kids that scurried off, squeaking a tiny goodbye to her.

What the suna team members were mostly surprised about, though, was that they were totally indifferent to Gaara's murderous aura. The pinkette looked slightly disturbed, but didn't step back or anything to prove her fear.

Gaara's icy stare drifted to the three, his deep, dark voice carrying out, "I'll look forward in seeing you at the exams." He nodded once, his words directed at Naruto by the incline of his head. He turned his cold gaze at his siblings, "We're going."

Sasuke and Sakura didn't let their shock show, looking at Naruto in disbelief once the odd group was gone. How did she manage to convert Gaara from something like _that _to the sweet and loyal Kazekage Naruto spoke so affectionately about?

Sasuke realized how similar this Gaara seemed to the description Naruto told him about of his future self. He tried to shove the thought away, but it still lingered in the back of his mind.

Naruto smiled, acting oblivious to the stares she received. She knew it faltered, that her smile would look a lot like Sai's (although a lot less creepier and sadder looking). She blinked when she felt a hand hold hers, and looked down to see Sakura's. Naruto's smile started reaching her eyes at the gesture, before she widened her eyes when Sasuke did the same as their pink haired teammate. Her stunned face morphed into a gleeful expression, her grin shining.

"Let's go eat some ramen!"

She laughed when Sasuke and Sakura immediately let go, but still stayed close.

Naruto couldn't help but be bothered by the glares and hateful remarks pointed at her. Sasuke and Sakura noticed, and held her hands, slightly blocking the looks from the villagers as they stood at either side protectively. Naruto smiled appreciatively, touched that they would do it for her.

She loved this team.

The ninjas openly greeted her, surprising the civilians. She shyly greeted back; she still wasn't used to the kind gestures, even during her original timeline. Sakura grinned as Sasuke smirked, whispering to Naruto teasingly about her discomfort. Naruto reddened before playfully whacking his arm.

Sakura can't help but widen her grin at the two.

They were like a bickering couple, and she saw them act the way her mother and father would to each other. Her inner self squealed, before loudly boosting out a "Yeah!" in her mind.

Sakura joined in with Sasuke, making Naruto whine. "You guys are ganging up on me!" She accused, dramatically weeping into her arm.

The three decided on eating some yakiniku instead, much to Naruto's displeasure, but she still liked the beef so the blonde let it slide. They sweat-dropped at the sight of Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji, as Naruto raised a brow, "Are you guys _always _here?"

Chouji kept munching, as Shikamaru rested his hand on his palm, waiting for the beef to cook. Ino looked up to see the three, before snorting, "No, we are not. I ain't so sure about Chouji, though." She poked the chubby boy in the ribs. "But he loves the place, so we end up eating here a lot."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Luckily he's paying for his own."

Naruto nodded before draping her arms on her teammates' shoulders, "Are you guys entering the exams, too?" She knew the answer, but asked anyways. Shikamaru blinked at Sasuke in surprise, before shaking his head, muttering another "troublesome."

"Yeah, you guys are too?"

Sasuke nodded before turning to Naruto―and tried to get some distance between them, seeing as how close their faces were. "Can we eat?" he twitched an eyebrow irritably, obviously hungry.

Naruto rolled her eyes, "Fine, scoot over, guys, we're gonna eat with ya."

Chouji ignored them, while Shikamaru complied grumpily. Ino happily moved closer to Shikamaru, patting the seat next to her, her eyes meeting Sakura's, who understood with a grin.

Sasuke and Naruto's eyebrows twitched in annoyance, realizing that the two were trying to make them sit together. Ino did because she thought the two were going out. Naruto shot a glare at Sakura, before sighing and sitting next to Chouji, Sasuke following after her.

The two teams talked, chatting happily and―much to Team Ten's surprise―Sasuke participated in some parts, mostly irking Naruto. They laughed when Naruto blew up and stumbled on her words as she tried to give some comebacks.

Shikamaru leaned to his side, head still rested on his hand, an eyebrow raised, "Did being Naruto's boyfriend really change you that much?"

Naruto and Sasuke choked on their tea, blushing furiously. "We aren't dating." Sasuke glared as he tried to get the colors on his face back to normal. Naruto nodded, wiping her mouth with a tissue.

Sasuke then directed his glare at Sakura, as Naruto did the same. The blonde growled, "Sakura lied when she said the things before." She rolled her eyes, "I don't really know why though. Something about aggravating Ino."

Shikamaru mumbled, "Figured as much." While Ino's jaw slacked.

"W-What! B-But…" She was too stunned to continue. Sakura laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"Rivals do the craziest of things?" She pointedly looked at Sasuke and Naruto, who caught it.

In unison, the two "hn"ed. Naruto widened her eyes, as she whipped her head at Sasuke, slapping a hand to her mouth. Sakura looked horrified as well.

Team Ten shared a glance, and all thought the same thing.

Team Seven was definitely bonding too much.

* * *

><p>Team Seven went to the academy on the day of the exams, and it was going quite well. Sasuke fought Lee with his Sharingan, and he fared off better this time. Team Seven, Eight, and Ten now stood gathered in the back of the test room, talking to each other excitedly. Everything was doing fine as it should be, just like how it did in Naruto's future―<p>

―Until now.

Naruto knew that there was a possibility of things changing a slight bit, but nothing too drastic. Zabuza and Haku were alive and kicking in Konoha, doing missions for the village. Sasuke found out about the Uchiha's, as did the chunins and jounins of the Leaf. But that was all because she caused them on purpose.

So what the hell was _Sai _doing here?

Naruto stood stupefied as Sai introduced himself to the Rookie Nine, "It's nice to meet you all." With his usual, painstakingly fake smile.

Sakura took one look at Naruto's face, and wondered what caused her to have such an expression. She studied Sai, before recalling the time when Naruto had described the new teammate that replaced Sasuke in the future.

This was _that _Sai.

The realization caused her to freeze, before she got control of herself. She turned to Sasuke to see that he found it out, too, judging by his stiff form.

They heard a voice speak up from behind them, and the rookies turned around to see Kabuto, "You kids are too loud. Don't you notice the tension?"

Naruto had to stuff the anger bubbling up away, "We have, and don't care. Is that all you have to say?"

Kabuto raises his hands up defensively, "Sorry, Blondie. Just thought I should give you guys a heads up."

Naruto noticed the concerned looks she received from her friends, and sighed, "No, I'm sorry. I'm just… in a bad mood right now." She ignored Shikamaru and Sai's calculating stare, before the painter went back to his team. She would have to ask the Hokage about Sai later.

Shikamaru frowned at that, but didn't say anything. His eyes slightly narrowed, studying his former classmate. Hinata did as well, except more out of worry, and from noticing her role model's sudden anger towards Kabuto.

The older boy smiled, shaking his head, "It's the exams after all, so of course you'd be agitated. Hey, how about I show you something cool?" He got out a stack of cards, "I have information on all the genin here in the exams in these cards, which appears only when I apply my chakra. Have anyone you're interested in?"

Sasuke spoke up, "Gaara, Rock Lee… Naruto." Said girl blinked in surprise.

Kabuto raised a brow, smirking, "On your own teammate?" Sasuke shrugged.

"To test out those cards."

Kabuto shuffled through the set, "Well, whatever." He got out a card, showing Gaara's profile.

"Impressive. I forgot about that. Came back from all missions without a scratch, eh?" He showed the interested group, "Next's Lee, was it?" He flipped through the stack, and got one out. "Rock Lee. Doesn't seem to have any talent when it involves chakra, but his taijutsu is remarkable."

Kabuto's smirk widened and Naruto stiffened, before shaking it off. He wouldn't dare show any classified information. "Uzumaki Naruto. From what I've gathered, not much of a big shot. Oh, and your team completed a B-rank?"

Team Seven tensed, and the rest noticed. Kiba complained, "How'd you guys get such a high ranked mission!" Akamaru barked in agreement.

Sakura frowned at Kabuto, not even turning to the dog boy, "It wasn't supposed to be so well known. It was just a C-ranked mission that was bumped up to a B-rank."

Kabuto grinned, "Well, it's kind of famous. Especially with _Naruto _in it―"

The blonde glared, now leaking out murderous intent, "_Kabuto. _I suggest you stop there. I don't really appreciate you spouting things about me that could even be kept a _secret." _

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes again. Secret? It sounded like there was more to it than that.

The rest took a slight step back at the intensity of Naruto's glare. They weren't used to this side of the _happy, cheery _blonde at all.

A voice boomed across the room, silencing everyone. "Shut up you little maggots! This is where the first part of the Chunin Exams begin!" They all turned to see a scarred, tall man dressed in black, along with other ninjas in grey uniforms. "I'm Morino Ibiki, the proctor for this test!"

Naruto ignored the stares she received from the chunins as she leaned against the seat, obviously not doing the work. She looked down at the paper, before cringing.

Naruto had decided to wait and sit back, seeing as she didn't have much skill in cheating, other than her flashy jutsus. She looked around, to see Sakura and Sasuke already finishing the test, and then back at Ibiki, who raised a brow. He was obviously wondering why she didn't bother writing.

She huffed, looking the other way, crossing her arms, making the proctor chuckle silently.

Naruto _still _didn't understand the questions on the paper.

Sakura tried not to roll her eyes, as did Sasuke.

Shikamaru frowned _again _at Naruto, who had not even touched the paper. She wasn't panicking or anything that showed her discomfort. He looked down at the test, knowing the questions were all too hard for the girl.

He sighed as he put the paper back down, deciding to lean forwards onto the desk.

* * *

><p>"Before the tenth question, I want to ask one thing. Do you choose to stay and continue, or leave the exams? You'll be given another chance next time, otherwise, if you fail the question…" He chuckled evilly. "You would stay genin forever!"<p>

People who had been shouting in outrage drew back, shocked and considering their options. Slowly, some raised their hands, followed by others.

Naruto frowned, looking around to see that many of them were leaving. She had to stop to keep the added tournament later.

She slammed her hand on the desk, causing many people to jump. She smirked, "That won't scare me! Even if I can't get a higher rank, I'll still get the hokage title, dammit! I don't go back on my words, nor do I give up! That's my nindo!" The people who hesitated brought their arms down, slightly smiling in confidence. They nodded in agreement, before Ibiki rolled his eyes at the blonde.

"Fine. You all…" He paused for an effect, making the participants lean forwards. "Pass!" The man chirped, smiling.

That caused the genin to falter, except Naruto. People started shouting out in outrage again, before Ibiki silenced them.

"The previous questions were on your information gathering skills, while the final was the real test to see if you're ready." He glared, "People die on missions, especially when you get the wrong information." He continued, telling them about an example. He showed the scars and burns on his head, much to the horror of the genin.

A black round _thing _flew into the classroom, surprising everyone except Naruto and Ibiki. The man deadpanned, _oh lord, not her._

The black cover was pinned to the wall, showing a busty Mitarashi Anko. She grinned as she laid her eyes on the blonde before to everyone else. "I'm the proctor for the second part of the Chunin Exams, Mitarashi Anko! Love letters, confessions, and praises can wait until later. Now, follow me!" She was oblivious to the tenseness, and Ibiki had to refrain from face-palming.

"Read the atmosphere, Anko."

She blinked, before glaring at the guy, "You're growing soft, Morino. But…" Her smirk turned feral, "I'll cut it down to at least an half."

Many fidgeted as her gaze was drawn back to the genin, "We'll be doing the second test tomorrow. Get the information from your jounin sensei. You're all dismissed."

* * *

><p><strong>What's going to happen next, I wonder? Hehe~<strong>

**Reviews highly appreciated! :D**


	12. Chapter Twelve

She walked around the town, ignoring the many conversations on the upcoming Chunin Exams. She didn't pay attention to the bets being placed, nor the glances sent her way. Her hands were shoved into her pockets, as Naruto remembered what happened at the Hokage's office.

"_What's the meaning of this?" Naruto exclaimed as she slammed open the door. The Hokage glanced up tiredly, shooing away the chunins. He knew what she was talking about._

"_This is about Sai, isn't it?" Sarutobi pinched the bridge of his nose, "Danzo had suggested that the child should participate, for what I'm not really sure. But one thing I know is that he suspects something, and wants Sai to investigate."_

_Naruto's hands clenched, "So you're saying, that he sent Sai to the exams without a proper reason? And you _agreed_?" She asked incredulously._

"_Sai needs to be around someone his age, and who better to socialize with you, Naruto?" He pressed his mouth to his folded hands as he continued, "It's highly unlikely that he would try anything, especially when I'm already suspicious of Danzo. I would be extra careful after I'm gone if I were you, though, Naruto." _

_Naruto was caught off guard, "After you're gone? You mean…"_

"_Yes, I plan on dying through the sealing technique I used in the future. This time, however, it would be more smooth and quick. I expect the Anbu to finish Orochimaru and the Sound Four off once I'm done."_

_Her eyes were downcast, "So you've thought through this already." She looked up to see his eyes, "Have you told Kakashi-sensei and Ero-sennin about it?"_

_He nodded, "Of course. They will also continue with protecting the village from the snakes and Sound nin as well." _

_Naruto squeezed her eyes shut, knowing full well that her eyes were moistening. "I… see. Nothing would change your mind then, would it?"_

_He smiled sadly in reply._

Just when she finally got a chance to see him every day, too.

Naruto shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She furrowed her eyebrows in determination. She'll just train harder.

"Naruto-neechan!" She blinked as she turned around to see her excited future apprentice. Her mouth curved into a smile, although it didn't reach her eyes.

"What's up, Konohamaru?"

"I want you to test me!"

Naruto raised a brow, "On what?"

He grinned, adjusting his goggles, "I want you to test me on my new academy jutsu!"

Naruto took a while to understand what he really meant. He wanted her to see his improvement. She rolled her eyes as she smiled for real this time. "Next time try to be honest, brat."

He scowled, "I ain't a brat! I'll show you!"

* * *

><p>"Ah, the clone technique, eh?" She smiled, "That's awesome! What makes it more impressive is that you only just learnt it! I'm so proud of you, Konohamaru." The boy beamed at her praises, dispelling the illusions.<p>

"Can you show me yours?"

Naruto laughed, "No can do. I can only make shadow clones, since I have too much chakra for the normal bunshin."

Konohamaru gaped, "Shadow clone? I saw Jiji do it once! That's so cool!"

Naruto grinned, "Yup, I'll show it to ya." She formed the sheep seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

To his amazement, five clones appeared, every one of them exactly like Naruto. He poked the clone closest to him, before poking it again for good measure.

It was solid!

Naruto's eyebrow twitched, "Yes it is, Konohamaru. Now stop with the poking!" She dispelled the bunshins, much to the boy's disappointment.

He soon lightened up, "Teach me!"  
>She rolled her eyes, smiling as she ruffled his hair, "Again, no can do, kiddo. Wait 'till you get larger chakra reserves. Then I'll teach you the jutsu, along with an even cooler one that you can only do with the Kage Bunshin."<p>

Konohamaru whooped and cheered, only making Naruto's smile wider.

* * *

><p>The next day, team seven, along with several other genins, stood in front of the proctor for the second part of the Chunin Exams. Anko explained the rules, and it went along as Naruto expected, acting scared of the woman after she shot the kunai to graze her cheek. She tried <em>not <em>to pound Orochimaru-in-a-Grass-nin's-body, although her fingers were suspiciously close to her weapon pouch.

You can't blame a girl for wanting to kill the guy who took away her crush, can you?

Her team received the heaven scroll, and soon walked to their assigned gate. They gave each other smiles, as they stared at the guard who repeatedly looked at his watch.

He felt his speaker on his ears, before walking towards the gate, keys in hand.

The three twitched in anticipation

Anko's voice boomed, reaching them, "Starting now, the second parts of the exams―" Naruto smirked as soon as the gate's locks clicked. "―shall begin!"

"Let's get wild!"

* * *

><p>"Dammit, Chouji! You nearly cost us our lives! With <em>one <em>chip!" Ino growled as Chouji continued to chow down on his barbeque flavored potato chips. Shikamaru sighed, before smirking.

"Let's go get to Naruto's team."

Ino let out a whoop of agreement, as Chouji nodded, munching.

* * *

><p>Kiba smirked, looking down on the three ninjas collapsed on the ground, the leeches his team set as a trap was a success. "As expected." He got out cockily.<p>

The leader of the trapped ninjas spoke weakly, "Y-You… bastards."

Shino responded, "I wouldn't say that if I were you. Kiba has a low tolerance for insults directed towards him. Our generation is quite impressive, so I doubt it's a good idea to look down on us rookies." Hinata meekly nodded, slightly smiling.

But later, her smile was wiped off her face, replaced with a horrified expression as the three watched the Suna team.

* * *

><p>Once Team Seven decided to sit down further into the forest, Naruto made two clones. One of them sat down to meditate, the other watching out for it. The real Naruto sighed, nodding to her teammates before looking at the direction where the Rain ninja hid.<p>

"You can come out now."

The oddly suited man came out, his voice slightly muffled through the mask, "Aw, unlucky me… I thought I was doing a pretty good job." His eyes crinkled up, but not fully closed. "You three ain't so bad. Now, which one of you has the scroll?"

Sasuke scoffed, "Hn. Don't underestimate us."

"Very well, let's see what you got." He ran forwards, as Sasuke jumped in the air.

"Housenka no Jutsu!" Fireballs flew from his mouth, as the enemy dodged, also jumping up to attack the Uchiha.

Kunai clashed, before gravity kicked in and the two landed on the floor. It was Sakura who charged this time, fist raised as it collided with his face, effectively sending the Ame nin across the field.

Naruto flashed to him, making two clones in a split second. She kicked the enemy as he was flying towards her, sending him to one of her clones. "U!" She got out of the way, preparing to jump.

The clone kicked it to the next, "Zu!"

The second bunshin kicked it up disappearing as soon as it said, "Ma!"

The first clone did the same, "Ki!"

The original Naruto flew up, higher than the Ame nin, before slamming her leg down on his face.

"**Naruto Rendan!"**

He crashed down, face first, to the ground with a sickening crack. The blonde landed gracefully, clapping her hands and patting her pants to remove the dust. She looked up to grin at her teammates, who smirked back.

"My, what great teamwork you all have." They froze, the expression on their face turning to a look of horror, as they slowly looked up at the woman.

Naruto growled, "Orochimaru."

"Oh? You know who I am? Well that's a pity." Sakura and Sasuke tried not to show their disgust as the man began to peel his skin, revealing pale white. "I was hoping for a little fun."

Naruto smirked, "You'll be having some soon."

Orochimaru licked his lips in anticipation, "I look forward to it, but not from you…" He pointedly watched Sasuke, his mouth curled into a smile.

Sasuke couldn't help but to wonder why on earth his future self went with such an annoyingly gross man. What was the word?

Ah, pedophilia.

He shivered, and it seemed to amuse the pedophile. Sakura got ready, glaring at the man. Naruto was already pugnacious, watching him with a scrutinizing glare.

Orochimaru smirked, "Well, isn't this an interesting batch."

* * *

><p>The senseis of the Rookie Nine and Team Gai had assembled and sat at the jounin lounge's couches, worried for the problem occurring this very moment.<p>

Kurenai glanced at the direction of training ground forty-four through the window repeatedly, eyebrows furrowed, "Are you sure we shouldn't go? Even if Naruto _did _regain her original strength, I doubt it would be enough to take him down."

Kakashi sighed, "No, Naruto hadn't fully mastered everything―"

Everyone whipped their heads towards him, Kurenai's wide with shock and terror, "What? If that's so, then there's no chance―"

Kakashi removed his face from his orange book, "_―but, _what she already got down would be enough to weaken him enough for the Sandaime to finish the snake off later." He spoke patiently, "And there's a possibility that she would hold him long enough for Anko to come along, and finish the job sooner. Kabuto could come and tend his wounds, after all. We're all hoping for the second solution."

Asuma was the one who asked this time. "We?"

"Yes―"

"We, as in Kakashi, Naruto and I." They all jumped, before turning to the side to see Jiraiya leaning against the wall, arms crossed on his chest.

Kakashi nodded once, "Good morning, Jiraiya-sama." Gai stood up straight, before bending at a ninety-degree angle.

"Good morning, Jiraiya-sama! I believe you've been very youthful these past years?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes as he went back to his book, much to Jiraiya's pleasure. Jiraiya coughed into his hand, "Good morning to you all as well. I… have, Gai, thank you for asking." He refused to use the word. "But back to the important matters."

Kakashi nodded, sighing as he put the book away this time. "We haven't discussed the other option with Hokage-sama, but Naruto's been training very hard for it." He scratched his head, "We haven't gotten a chance to test her though, so we don't really know the extent of her skills."

Gai spoke, tone serious, "Then, seeing her train the past few weeks, what would you think it would be?"

The silver headed man looked up, contemplating, "I'd say…" He paused for effect, the other jounins leaning in.

His hand was over the right side of his face, his fingers leaving a shadow on his visible eye. "…that she might even beat me."

* * *

><p>Naruto tried not to sneeze―really, she did―but it won over her, and Orochimaru took that moment to charge. The girl was sent hurling to a tree, much to Sakura and Sasuke's horror.<p>

"Naruto!"

Orochimaru scoffed, "Not much of a big shot. Now then…" He turned towards the survivor of the Uchiha clan, who didn't miss the glint in his eye. "…Let's see what your eyes can do, _Sasuke-kun."_

Never before had Sasuke been so revolted by the suffix at the end of his name.

Sakura dashed then, aiming a punch at the man. Orochimaru disappeared, making her crash the floor, forming a large crater around her fist.

"My, what a scary girl you have as a teammate. A Tsunade impersonator, perhaps?" He chuckled, "Interesting―" He was cut off, coughing up blood as Naruto punched his back at where the spine was. He flew to a tree, much like how Naruto did.

The blonde smirked, "Payback's a bitch, isn't it?" her smirk intensified as she watched him crumple to the grass. "Too bad that that isn't enough for me."

She didn't give him a moment longer as she ran, reaching him in a split second. While he tried to get up, she rammed her elbow at the same place she had drove her fist, taking great pleasure when he slammed back to the ground.

She was sure his spine was broken, if the sound of its crack were any indication.

Sakura cheered, and Sasuke smiled as Naruto nearly let out a victory yell.

That was, until they heard a voice above them. "You did a great job at that, Naruto-kun. Too bad I didn't use the technique earlier," He gingerly brushed his back, "but I'm sure I would have been dead had I not replaced myself with a person nearby." The team shuddered as his voice carried on, "_You're lucky I didn't use your pink-haired teammate." _

Naruto turned to the person she had just pounded, before stepping back in shock, as did the other two.

It was Kabuto.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the short chapter... I didn't really know where to stop, so I ended up here. It seems easier to write the next chapter, so I think I'll be posting it early (no promises though). Thanks for the reviews and alerts, it really made my day ^.^ <strong>

**To the anonymous reviewer, thank you for pointing that out. I read it again, and I embarrassingly admit, that it was rather... stupid. It sort of 'popped' into my head when I read the latest chapter at that time, so I hurriedly typed it up before I forgot and... yeah. I'll try to think up a better idea while writing the next chapter. ^.^** **But, I believe that she would take Itachi's word. It's thanks to him she remembered to not shoulder everything on her own, after all. She also knows that he's really a good guy at heart, and would do anything to save Sasuke and the village. I'll try to rewrite the whole prologue, as well as the other chapters, so again, thank you. I know you're just giving out advices, and I'm very grateful that you would take your time to type it. m(_ _)m **

**Again, a big thank you to all the reviewers for taking the time to... well, review! I was practically beaming at the positive comments! **


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Naruto stuttered out, "W-What the hell?" She successfully masked her surprise with horrification, watching wide eyed as the figure had popped back into the medic ninja. Kabuto hadn't gotten up yet, but his breathing was a loud pant, wheezing and desperately sucking in some air. Naruto solemnly nodded to Sakura, who had gone to finish him off to "end his pain."

The blonde looked back at the snake summoner, not even wincing as Sakura crushed Kabuto's throat. She ignored the sound of it, deep in thought. She inwardly laughed at herself, shaking her head.

Of course one of the Legendary Sannin wouldn't be such an easy kill.

Orochimaru sneered, "Good riddance. I had already been suspicious of him, you see, since he was reluctant with my idea. I was also skeptic about him seeing as he was so _loyal_." He flipped his hair back, licking his lips again.

Naruto inwardly agreed with him. It really was lucky; this had removed one obstacle in their plan. However…

If she didn't stop Orochimaru now, then he would most likely do the same as Kabuto did in the future, and help Madara.

That was unacceptable at any cost.

Orochimaru looked down at the jinchuuriki, his lips curled up at the side as he sneered, "It looks like…" He hissed, "…you'll be a wrench in my plans."

Naruto scoffed, "Why I'm honored to hear so."

Sasuke and Sasuke repressed the urge to throw up; the killing intent of the two was suffocating.

Naruto smirked, imitating the man, "It looks like…" She slowly crouched, eyes closed as an orange hue started to shade them, "…I'll have to go all out."

Orochimaru's eyes widened a fraction as he watched her reveal amber irises, pupils much like a toad's. "I see, so that's what that clone was for―to gather the natural energy. You've perfected the technique even Jiraiya couldn't manage…" Amusement was written all over his face, "…I can't wait to see what a true toad sage could do."

The clone that had acted as a guard ran towards her teammates. Naruto didn't take her eyes off of the man as she yelled, "Sasuke, Sakura! Go look for the proctor or the higher ups with my kage bunshin!" She threw a kunai at one of the summoned snakes, "It would be able to sense their chakra!"

Sasuke didn't argue, but it was obvious that he was put off; they were being dismissed, but that's not the point right now.

Orochimaru hissed, "What makes you think I'll let them go?"

Naruto growled, "I'll _make _you."

Her sudden change in speed caused the man to be taken aback. He barely managed to avoid the punch―

―and was hurling back into the ground.

He coughed up blood as his head collided with the floor, Sakura and Sasuke used this chance to follow the clone.

Naruto prepared herself as Orochimaru started to get up.

Failure is not an option.

* * *

><p>Naruto panted harshly, the Sennin Mode already fading away, as she glared up at the man who was also struggling to get his breathing back to normal. She smirked in satisfaction, before thinking about her next steps.<p>

The Rasenshuriken wasn't an option now. The Kyuubi Mode wasn't one either, seeing as she would be in _major _trouble if he managed to escape. She glanced at the direction her team took off.

"Where are you looking at, I wonder?"

She yelped as she was kicked a few meters across from behind. She shakily got up to her feet, her pants speeding up as she squeezed an eye shut from the pain.

_Dammit! 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!'_

The clone that had appeared was by her side immediately, and both charged.

Orochimaru's lips curled into a wicked smile as he blocked the attacks with ease, "I see that your Sage Mode doesn't last very long." He crouched, avoiding the leg sweep successfully.

Naruto snarled, "Shut up!"

Naruto yelped again as she was thrown against a tree, and Orochimaru flashed in front of her.

The blonde clawed at his hand, trying to remove the vice grip he had on her throat. She continued gasping, desperately trying to suck in some air as he squeezed.

She froze suddenly, closing her eyes. Orochimaru frowned, "Giving up already?"

She stayed quiet, and he sent a snake down the arm that held the girl, "That's too bad. Well, you were interesting while you lasted."

The snake's pearl white fangs bared, ready to pierce them in her throat as it slid its way to it. Orochimaru's lips were curled into a sneer, before he gasped.

His arm that was grabbing Naruto's neck was slowly stiffening.

He watched with a horrified expression as his hand, wrist, and then the whole arm had hardened into stone.

Naruto finally opened her eyes; the irises back to honey as the pupils resembled a frog's. She smirked, before she smashed his arm.

Cracks had spread far, and she was sure it reached up to his shoulder.

It finally crumbled to pieces.

But the snake had already done its job.

* * *

><p>"There she is!" Naruto huffed out, Sakura and Sasuke following after.<p>

"Anko-san!" Said woman turned to Sakura's voice, her face solemn and tired looking when she noticed who the team was.

"So he came after all?"

Naruto was about to speak, before widening her eyes, grasping her neck. She cursed, before falling on her knees.

She disappeared with a puff of smoke soon after.

Sasuke's fists tightened, "Something happened to her, that Usuratonkachi! Come on, let's hurry!"

_Please be alright._

* * *

><p>Its pearl white daggers sunk deep, ejecting its venom, before the serpent had slid its way down her arms. Naruto, her hand previously clutching the wound in pain, ripped it off, wincing as she did so.<p>

It landed on the floor before she stomped on it.

Her eyes flashed in fury, watching the man with scorn, him returning the glare as he held onto . Red started to fill and replace the blue, her pupils narrowing to slits. She showed off her canines, as the whisker marks grew thicker.

Kyuubi's lips curled wickedly, remembering what his container had said earlier, **let's get wild.**

Orochimaru cursed, bracing himself as the blonde jinchuuriki had slashed her sharpened nails at him. His crossed his remaining arm against his chest and received angry red, bloody scratches, some parts of his face's skin also torn.

He scowled, contemplating on what he should do. Now most of his knowledge on ninjutsu were meaningless. All because of one girl.

He snarled, before running his hand through several half seals. This wouldn't be as effective now, but it would at least do some damage.

"Gwah!" She choked as he slammed his hand to her stomach, doubling over. The area of where the seal was had reacted, sending throbs of pain throughout her body. She was brought on all fours, clutching on her jacket.

"Nikudan Sensha!"

Orochimaru avoided the giant ball with ease, narrowly avoiding the shadow that had come his way. He smirked, "Is this really what this generation of the Ino-Shika-Chou has got?"

Shikamaru got up, frowning, "Who are you? What do you want with her?"

Orochimaru rolled his eyes, "I want the Sharingan. She just got in the way."

Ino growled, "He asked you who you are, too. Didn't you hear?"

The long-haired man glared, "Noisy bunch, aren't you?" He sharply turned his head to the right, before hissing in anger. Orochimaru turned back to the group of three, "Tell the jinchuuriki―" He pointedly glared at the crumpled figure of the blonde, "―that I will take him."

With that, he was gone.

Anko's voice had brought the team out of there stupor, "Naruto!" The woman flipped her head to the sides, looking around before she cursed, "He got away, didn't he?"

Sakura soon came to Naruto's side, the worried crease between her eyebrows deepening. She checked the fang wound, before her eyes started to sting, "Naruto…" Sasuke had rushed to see as well, before slamming his fist to the floor in anger.

Sakura's hands glowed as they hovered above Naruto's neck, the light sucking out the poison. She furrowed her brows in concentration, sweat rolling down her forehead, as the other genins watched in awe.

Ino had barely spoke, "Sakura, since when did―"

Anko snapped, "Be quiet. She needs to focus, and you're disrupting it." She nodded to the other Anbu members, "Well, we'll be going now to report. Continue the exam, and act like this had not happened."

Sasuke snorted, muttering, "Like hell we could."

If Anko did hear him, she made no attempt to respond and soon flashed away with the other adults.

Shikamaru frowned.

* * *

><p>After Sakura had finally managed to remove most of the poison from her blonde teammate's blood, Team Ten had went away to grab another scroll. Seeing as the pinkette was exhausted, Sasuke had opted to take watch for the night.<p>

Every now and then, Naruto had let out a whimper of pain, causing him to clench his fists harder and harder. Watching her suffer had him wanting to go after the snake and skin the man alive before boiling him up and―

He sighed, trying to calm himself down, before he brushed her bangs away from her face. Sasuke softened his gaze, combing through her hair with his fingers. Naruto's hitai-ate had been placed next to her head, allowing cool air to touch her forehead, that had been burning from her fever.

Several hours passed already, and Sasuke's eyes were drooping; the idea of rest sounded very tempting. Luckily, Sakura had woken up, suggesting him to sleep and let her take watch, much to his relief.

He had lied down next to Naruto, Sakura noted with a smile creeping up her face. She shook her head, gazing in front of her, at nothing in particular. She sat like that for a while, before turning at the sound of a groan.

Naruto's eyes had squeezed, before blinking repeatedly, adjusting to the darkness. "Naruto!" She turned at the relieved whisper, seeing the bubblegum hair of her teammate.

"Sa…kura-chan?" She threw a hand up at her splitting headache, slowly sitting up. She glanced down to see Sasuke's figure, before smiling softly, taking off her jacket to cover the boy. She turned back to Sakura, her smile turning into a grin.

Sakura smiled back lovingly, "It's great to see you finally up, Naruto." She feigned anger, but the happiness in her eyes was obvious to the blonde, "You had me worried sick!"

Naruto rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, "Sorry, Sakura-chan. So…" She dropped the hand, her eyes cast down. "He got away, didn't he?"

Sakura's smile had faded away, "Yeah. But we'll get him, Naruto. Don't worry."

Blue eyes were still at the ground, the owner hadn't responded to the attempt at reassurance. "I'll stay up, so get some rest, Sakura. And thanks for taking care of me."  
>Naruto watched as Sakura had finally slept, before gently pushing her closer to Sasuke. She removed the jacket from him, and then placed it on top of them both.<p>

Getting up, she made two clones before departing into the woods.

Many would be asleep by now, and the people watching out would be too exhausted to―

―dammit.

How the heck can she forget about Gaara?  
>Well, the very same boy sat in front of her, staring at her with his piercing teal eyes. It flicked to the sides of the blonde, before his cold, deep voice had nearly caused Naruto to jump.<p>

"Where's the other two?"  
>"Sleeping."<p>

He didn't reply, nor show any expressions. "Hn. You're here to get our scroll, aren't you?"

Naruto raised a brow, keeping her voice low since his other two teammates were very close by, "I wasn't really planning on stealing from _your _team, but a scroll's what I want."

He glared, but then again, he seemed to do that all the time. Naruto's eyes followed the movements of his hand, and the gourd. The cork had floated off, sand making its way out.

Naruto was immediately on her guard, before blinking in surprise.

His sand twisted and turned, before a scroll flew her direction. She caught it easily, still blinking, before she looked down at the prize in her hand. She shot a questioning gaze his direction.

The only movement he had made was the movement of his mouth as he talked. "Take it and leave. I want to see you in the final round, and fight you." His eyes finally showed an emotion, but the glint had sent a chill in her spine, "I want to see your blood."

Naruto smirked, before walking away. She paused in mid-step, knowing his gaze was still locked on her back. "Tell Shukaku that Kurama and I said hi."

She could literally hear the raccoon demon's screech.

Her smirk widened, as the fox inside her chuckled darkly.

* * *

><p>Sakura let a breath of relief escape her at the sight of her blonde teammate, "Where have you been? We were so worried!"<p>

Naruto laughed, "You're always worried, Sakura-chan. I was out to get us a scroll." She tossed the cylinder in the air, before she caught it. "Luckily Gaara's team had the Earth's scroll. Neat, huh?"

Sasuke's eyebrows shot up, "Gaara?"

"Yup."

Sakura frantically checked for any injuries on her best friend, before desperately trying to relax the constant, fast paced thudding of her heart.

She wondered if Naruto was trying to make them panic on purpose.

Sasuke's eye twitch told her that he was thinking the same thing.

* * *

><p><strong>How was it? :D<strong> **Does it seem rushed? Was it boring? TELL MEH Dx**

**Haha, sorry about that. Well, please leave some feedback and advice. **

**I wonder what will happen next~ xD**


	14. Chapter Fourteen

"You're _seriously _trying to dig your own grave, aren't you?" Naruto deadpanned.

The Ame ninja's eyes squinted up in amusement, "I was just unlucky last time. Unlucky." He chuckled, preparing to fight, as his hands flashed seals. "Doku Suigan no Jutsu! _Poison Water Balls!_"

Naruto cursed, as she along with her two teammates dodged the purple water balls. Looking back at the sound of sizzling, she widened her eyes at seeing where a part of the jutsu landed on the tree.

It was poison, without a doubt, if the burning of the bark is any indication.

The Rain ninja chuckled, "Have you honestly never seen anything like it? Well, it _is _something not many people could manage to do."

Naruto rolled her eyes, "Right, well I've seen _something _like it before," She smirked, "but I must say, yours sucks the worst. It's terribly easy to dodge, and the sizes of those Suigans aren't very big."

He seemed to scowl, but the team couldn't be sure because of the breathing mask that hid his face. Naruto sighed, "Fine, I guess we'll stick around and destroy you for good this time." Her lips curled to a smirk, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

The enemy ninja crouched, ready to pounce. "Now don't go getting so cocky."

* * *

><p>The blonde clapped her hands together to get rid of the dust, before grinning to her teammates. Sasuke rolled his eyes, "You can get your foot off that guy's head, Naruto. I feel <em>some <em>pity for him already, and you showing off just makes it worse."

Naruto laughed, "Yeah right, as if I'll ever believe you would care about this wimp."

With those words, she seemed to dig the unconscious boy underneath her sandal further into the ground.

Sakura sighed, "We better get going. I want to us to get to the tower as fast as we can―or else we'll have to endure Kiba's constant boistering earlier than we have to."

Naruto grinned, "I second that."

Sasuke smirked, "Then what are we waiting for?" He didn't try to hide his grimace as Naruto pushed off the ground and the Ame nin's face.

It seems like the boy would have a lot of coughing up to do.

* * *

><p>Judging by Anko's grave face, the jounins that had reassembled in the lounge grew solemn, as Kakashi spoke first.<p>

"I'm guessing it didn't go as we would have liked?"

The dango lover scoffed, "Understatement of the century, much? Well, I'm sure Naruto did manage to pull a number on him, but I didn't stay long enough to hear the story. It seems like she was quite injured though."

Kakashi sighed, "I think Naruto will be fine as long as Sakura's there to patch her up. How about Sasuke?"

Anko seemed to smile at that, "Free from the Cursed Seal, one good thing that came out of it."

Jiraiya nodded, before all the occupants of the room turned to the door opening, "Iruka." He greeted, followed by some others.

The young man smiled slightly, "They were all alright. Sakura healed Naruto perfectly, and Sasuke is safe and sound as well." He grinned proudly, "Naruto had made Orochimaru lose an arm, and now that Kabuto's out of the picture, it seems like things have taken a turn for the better."

Jiraiya shook his head, "That might not be true." The ninjas turned to him, bewildered, while Kakashi had understood where Jiraiya was going with this.

The silver haired jounin sensei nodded, explaining further for his confused comrades, "What Jiraiya-sama means is that now that things have changed drastically, we can no longer predict what would happen next. It's highly possible that Orochimaru would continue with his plan."

The fellow jounins and chunin blanched at that, except for the jounin senseis of the Rookie Nine and Gai.

Kurenai furrowed her brows, before shifting her scarlet eyes to Jiraiya. "Then what do you propose we do?"

The man massaged his temples, "That's the thing. If we jump on this too quickly or hastily, everything could slip out of our hands. The advantage we have would be useless."

Kakashi's visible eye was drooping lazily, but it was obvious he was just as concerned as everyone else. "Hokage-sama believes that he should take matters at hand, and finish Orochimaru the moment he gets the chance. I doubt that Orochimaru would find a medic as good as Kabuto so quickly, and I also doubt that he would just drop everything. He spent too much time and effort into this plan, and Suna will also be on Oto's tail once they figure it out. Orochimaru's trapped."

Jiraiya nodded, "And if Sensei's successful, it would rid one major problem. We should try to help with what we can at all costs."

The ninjas gave a determined face at that, while Iruka frowned, "Another thing―Naruto has informed that the Sound team, I believe the three were called Zaku, Dosu and Kin, haven't attacked them. It seems like it was because Sasuke didn't receive the seal."

Kakashi spoke, voice deeper than usual, "I see. I'll be sure to tell my team to be on full alert, since there is no telling what Orochimaru plans to do. Now let's go. We have to be at the Chunin Exams now, remember?"

* * *

><p>Naruto really tried to ignore Kiba's loud complaining―she honestly did―but this was really too much.<p>

"―and I mean, what the heck? How come _Naruto _arrived here the same time I did? That doesn't make sense!" Akamaru barked in agreement. "And another thing―"

"Shut _up, _Dog-Breath!" Naruto snapped through her gritted teeth. "You don't _know _what we are capable of, so shut your mouth and keep quiet!"

"But you're _Naruto. _The dead last of the academy!" He whined and whined and _whined._

Luckily, the dog boy was saved from being torn apart by the Hokage's voice, "Now that you are all here and rested, we shall begin the next part of the exams. Get into rows!"

The genins did as told, going to their assigned positions. Once they were all properly stood, he smiled slightly and continued, "Due to there being much more participants left over than expected, we will be having a preliminary tournament. You will be called down by the register against another genin." Here, he pointedly turned his head to the digital register. "The examiner for this round is Gekkou Hayate." Sarutobi nodded to said man, who stepped up.

He coughed. "As Hokage-sama has said, I am the examiner for the preliminary―" Cough. "―tournament. And since the amount of participants is an odd number, one will be left out and immediately allowed into the final round of the exams." Cough, cough.

Naruto blinked, before remembering who he was. Hayate, the examiner who had been a coughing fit, was killed during information gathering. _Well, _she thought with a concealed smirk, _that is no longer a problem. _

Once Hayate had regained control, he spoke sternly, "If the match gets out of hand, the proctors including me would personally put a stop to it." Naruto knew who this was directed to, even if Hayate didn't glance at Gaara.

They all went up the stairs, leaving the arena empty. Naruto whooped, cheered, and booed during the whole time watching other people's fights. She watched, clenching the bars tightly, as Sakura was being taken over by Ino.

"I, Haruno Sakura, wish to for―"

Naruto shouted without thinking, "Sakura! Get Ino the hell out of your head!"

Ino, inside Sakura's body, scoffed. _"What a loudmouth." _Her lips twisted in a smirk, "_Oh well, I'll just end this. Sorry, Sakura, looks like you'll have to―"_

"_Naruto… stop being so loud all the time… Well, she does have a point." _Ino froze, before whipping back to see Inner Sakura, many sizes larger than herself.

"_W-What? How can that be―"_

Sakura's inner self snarled, _"Get the fuck out of my mind Ino-pig!" _She continued to grasp Ino in her hands, strangling and shaking the blonde.

So Ino had no choice but to wake in her own body, dispelling the jutsu. Shikamaru and Chouji leaned forwards in surprise, hands against the fence. This was not possible!

Kakashi sighed, "Geez. Oh well, it seems like Ino will have to give up on this one."

Naruto cheered, "Go Sakura!"

The pinkette smiled, but didn't turn to her teammate. Instead, she focused her gaze on Ino. "Had I stayed the same as I have in the academy, then I might have lost to you before the match even lasted five minutes, Ino. But I have improved greatly, and I don't intend to lose."

Ino ignored her, before running forwards with her fist raised. Sakura followed, but her hand was enhanced with chakra.

Sakura skidded across the floor a few meters, while Ino had flown ten folds. They both fell, unconscious.

Kakashi and Asuma sighed, retrieving their students. Hayate called the match to an end, "Since both participants are unconscious, there is no winner. The fourth match is a tie!"

Naruto gaped, "But Sakura obviously was better!" Sasuke rolled his eyes at her antics. "Ino was punched further than she was!"

The next match was between Temari and Tenten, and, if Naruto's blurry memories were correct, there had been no changes. Tenten lay balanced on Temari's fan, unconscious.

"Winner, Temari!"

Naruto frowned as Temari threw Tenten away, only for Lee to catch his teammate. Gai avoided a fight from breaking out, before turning to the other two Sabaku siblings. "To the Sand team…" All three stood upright, staring him down. "… Don't underestimate this kid." Gai patted Lee's shoulder, his grin slightly smaller than usual, "He's strong."  
>Kiba spoke, drawing the Rookie Nine's attention, "I'd <em>never <em>want to mess with them."

Naruto scoffed, before turning to Gaara, noticing the redhead's gaze. "Well, as people would say, fight fire with fire. Or…" She smirked, spiking her chakra, gaze filled with Killing Intent. "…fight bloodlust with bloodlust. Am I right, Gaara?"

All the boy merely said in reply, "Mother would love to taste it. Your blood."

"Well, aren't you a mamma's boy? If that's the case," Naruto's lips curled, "then I'm daddy's little girl."

Kiba stepped back slightly, "What's wrong with you, Naruto?" Akamaru whimpered, hiding in his jacket.

Temari frowned, and thought the same as Kankurou. Just who was this girl? Reflecting on her words, she widened her eyes in realization.

"You… it can't be. You're also―"

She was cut off, and the tense air dissipated when the next match was called, "Shikamaru versus Kin!"

Shikamaru groaned, before jumping down. He grouched, but got prepared, nonetheless.

"Begin!"

Naruto smirked, as she spoke more to herself than anyone else, "I'd never want to fight Shika. That deceptively lazy guy would definitely outsmart me."

Sasuke raised a brow, "Rare, that you would praise someone willingly."  
>Naruto flushed slightly, before they turned to a groan behind them. Naruto grinned brightly.<p>

"Sakura-chan!"

The pink haired girl smiled weakly, before rubbing the back of her head. "Ouch. Ino sure did a number on me. Was it a tie?"

Kakashi nodded, "But you were close."

Ino woke up then, clutching her head as well, "God, I feel like I've been trampled by a herd of buffaloes."

Naruto nodded, before adding cheekily, "And you look like you've been trampled by elephants over and over."  
>Before Ino could make a retort, Sakura laughed, "But that's what being a ninja's about, right?"<p>

"Yup!" Naruto chirped. She turned just in time to see Shikamaru thrusting his body back, and Kin getting herself knocked out by the wall. "Go, Shikamaru!"

The boy merely sighed at her direction, "Thanks Naruto."

Naruto grinned, before seeing it was her turn. "Kiba, eh? Brings back old memories."

The Inuzuka smirked, "This ain't the same as those races we had before, dobe."

The blonde glared, "That's not what I was talking about―Hey! If there's one person who gets to call me that, it's Sasuke! And even still I would pulverize him for it!"

Said boy sighed, while Kakashi smirked under his mask knowingly. The silver haired jounin turned to the Uchiha, "Well isn't that just cute? Almost like a confession, I'll say."

Sasuke glared, but it backfired because of his obvious blush, so he muttered an insult to his sensei, looking down to the match. Kakashi rolled his eye before doing the same.

"Begin!"

Naruto grinned, "Let's work hard, Akamaru!"

The puppy barked, while Kiba growled, "What the―You're forgetting someone here!"

Naruto blinked innocently, "I am? I wonder who?" Akamaru seemed to snicker, but one can never know except an Inuzuka.

"Oi, Akamaru! Which side are you on anyways?"

Naruto charged, her speed surprising Kiba. _Since when was she so fast?_ As if reading his thoughts, she replied, "I've changed in many ways, Kiba. I'm not the same girl from before at the academy." She gave a small smile, "I guess my way of thinking also changed a little as well."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Four clones appeared, before going side by side with the original, and in sync they dashed towards Kiba and Akamaru. "Futon: Kamikaze no Jutsu! _Wind style: Divine Wind!" _

Kiba cursed, jumping high using chakra. Akamaru hopped up to his head, as both avoided being sliced by the wind.

Naruto jumped to meet them in the air, kicking the two down to the ground where her clones were. Kiba choked as her foot dug deep into his stomach, _Dammit, at this rate we'll―_

He was sent back up from the kicks on his back by the Naruto clones. _What? Solid clones!_

Naruto landed, before repeating her wind jutsu again, "Futon: Kamikaze no Jutsu!"

Kiba blocked the sharp blades of wind with his arm from Akamaru and also tried to cover his face. Blood spilled from the deep scratches he received on his cheek, as the wind cut through his clothes and left lines across his arms, legs and body in general. He ignored his hair that had been cut off as well, glaring at the girl when he was back on the ground.

"Gijuu Ninpou: Shikyaku no Jutsu! _Imitation Beast Ninja Art: Four Legs Technique!"_

Naruto dodged his many attacks. The boy's body was covered in his chakra, his moves quicker than before. She smirked, "Should I do the same?"

Without waiting for an answer, she brought her hands together, concentrating her chakra to the seal on her stomach. "It's been a while since I have done this before…"

**Show off.**

_I don't take that so badly, you know? 'Cause that's just what I am. _She grinned, as her form was draped in red chakra, her whiskers deepened and eyes blood red. Her pupils narrowed to slits, unnerving the genins in the room.

Kiba muttered out loud, "What the hell?"

The girl shot forwards, faster than Kiba, **"Let's get wild, shall we?"** Naruto flashed behind the boy, kicking him forwards. The Inuzuka was sent crashing to the wall, Akamaru jumping out in the way.

Kiba groaned as he slowly got up, Naruto waiting for him patiently as the chakra coat resided, and she returned to normal. That made him growl in rage.

* * *

><p>Kakashi spoke his thoughts out loud, drawing the attentions of the rookie genins. "That idiot. Did my orders really go in one ear, then out the other?"<p>

Sakura giggled, "You only told her to not use _those _modes. You never told her that she couldn't use the different tails, did you?" She kept the last part quieter, but made it vague as a precaution. Her tone was still light, though.

Sasuke frowned, "Even so, this is the first time she's ever used it here. It's still not perfected, either."

Kakashi brought his gaze back to his blonde student, "Well, they are on good terms, so what does it matter?"

The rest glanced at each other in question. What the three were saying did not make _any _sense. They turned to their teachers, who ignored the attention. Sighing, they turned back to the match.

Shikamaru frowned.

* * *

><p><em>Since when was she strong?<em>

Kiba took deep breaths, composing himself. He had no other option. Akamaru sensed his thoughts and jumped out. The dog boy got out two pills. "Akamaru!"

In unison, the two gulped it down.

Naruto groaned, this was going to get troublesome.

* * *

><p><strong>Was it rushed? Reading it over, I feel it was, but I tend to be too paranoid... And no I haven't still updated the first chapter! Sorry! I'm ripping the hair out of my head trying to rewrite it. The ideas always don't seem to work :(<strong>

**Thanks a ton for the reviews! I'm currently doing the happy dance while sitting on my wheely chair :D **


	15. Chapter Fifteen

"Well," Naruto drawled with her eyes half lidded, much like her sensei. "This has gotten troublesome."

Now, what seemed to be two Kiba's growled at her with his nails lengthened into claws, their form crouched, ready to pounce. Naruto smirked, her hands connected to the sheep seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Twenty clones appeared around her, awing the many people in the room. Both Kiba's lips curled into a smirk as well, "That won't work on us!"

The group of Naruto's attacked head on, as Kiba and Akamaru fought back, popping away each clone with their claws. Soon, the smoke that had formed as each clone puffed out of existence thickened, until it was no longer see-through.

Kiba's arrogant voice cut through it, though. "Well we've got our noses!" He stopped, noticing that the smoke held an orange tint to it. _Shit! _

He quickly covered his nose, but it was already too late.

Akamaru popped back into his own self, whimpering, while Kiba held his nose. The boy growled at Naruto, tears sliding down, "What the heck is that?"

Naruto grinned, but it was unseen from the mask she wore, "I figured, since I might be against you, that it was best to bring some homemade smoke bombs. The smells I sealed inside the seals on it are quite random." Her grin turned feral, "I'm glad I brought it. With that jutsu you used, your sense of smell increases by about a thousand, right?"

Wasting no more time talking, she charged at him. Kiba barely avoided the punch at his nose, which was covered by his hand. Grimacing as he did so, he brought his hands back down and prepared to fight back.

"Guwah!"

He flew forwards, cursing his now jumbled up sense of smell, as he barely saw Naruto, fist and arm outstretched, standing right next to where he had been. That darn smirk had stretched her lips ever so slightly as she spoke, "Never turn your back on the enemy."

Crashing into a wall head first was definitely not pleasant. Well, that's obvious, judging by how badly it hurt. Kiba struggled to get up on his feet, clutching his bleeding head, ignoring the pain on it and his neck.

This was obviously not the same Naruto from the academy.

Then, who the hell was she?

"Will you be able to continue fighting?" Kiba glanced at Hayate for a moment, before glaring at Naruto.

"I will!"

Naruto spread her legs and brought her arms up, waiting for him to strike. Not even surprised by her seriousness, he dashed forwards, yelling out as he lifted his fist.

Their speeds were matched, their strength was almost matched, and their attacks were returned equally. Naruto moved her head to the side as he outstretched his arm, aiming to punch her face. Naruto grabbed the hand, before thrusting it towards her.

Choking as her leg rammed his stomach, he doubled over and clutched his jacket.

Naruto didn't even wince as she kicked him across the ground, sending him skidding over. She flicked her eyes to both sides, searching for the dog.

She ducked as the pup flew over her head; its claws screeched against the floor tiles as it landed, dust kicked up at its feet. Growling it circled the girl, probably trying to distract her while its master had gotten recovered and ready to fight.

Naruto didn't take her chances though, "Kage Bunshin!"

Four clones was at her side in an instant, before it ran to Kiba. Akamaru tried to reach him, but was stopped by Naruto, who had flashed in front of the puppy, effectively blocking him.

She didn't turn when four shouts had sounded behind her, from her bunshins.

"U!"

"ZU!"

"MA!"

She finally did, seeing as Kiba was flying towards her. She kicked him up in the air, "KI!"

She jumped up to meet him, her leg striking down. "NARUTO RENDAN!"

The boy was immediately sent crashing down to the floor, and Akamaru was by his side in an instant.

The proctor frowned as he checked the boy, "This match goes to―"

Kiba ground out, trying to push himself off the ground, "Hold it!"

Naruto blinked, before getting into her fighting stance again, "Come at me then!"

Kiba wheezed as he pounded his feet on the ground, running up. "Why―why are you so… you're supposed to be―"

Naruto sighed as she blocked his angry punch, "I know, I _know. _Can people _stop _repeating that over and over? It's pissing me off."

Naruto frowned, was Kiba this strong before? He seems to be…

Naruto ducked yet another time as he attempted to kick her, but did a leg sweep to make him lose balance. He fell, before catching the ground with his hands and got back up.

* * *

><p>Ino clutched the bar hard, as she stared wide eyed, "This is Naruto? Sure I've seen her in the forest… but that was only a glimpse. This… Kiba isn't the strongest, but he was as fast as Sasuke-kun…"<p>

She was still disbelieving even as she watched Naruto kick Kiba back to the ground, Chouji frowning as well. "She certainly has gotten a lot stronger."

Gaara looked at them, before gazing back down at the fight. His eyes intensified as it stayed on the blonde, remembering her earlier performance. That chakra…

Kakashi's eyes drooped as he watched the redhead, _it seems like he's noticed. _He wondered, _was that her plan?_

* * *

><p>"Kiba… you've been a great friend, and thanks for hanging out with me all those times." Naruto panted softly, her lips curled into a small smile.<p>

The Inuzuka raised a brow, trying to calm his rapid breathing. "What the hell's gotten into you all of a sudden? You tryin' to be peacemaker?"

Naruto glared half-heartedly, "I'm trying to have a heart to heart talk to you, Dog-Breath! You're ruining it!"

"Why'd you want to do that, Blondie?"

"Grah! Forget it!"

Naruto rolled her eyes, before shuffling her hands to different seals, "Futon: Kamikaze!"

"That _again!"_

Kiba and Akamaru narrowly avoided the sharp blades of wind before Kiba threw his nin-dog a pill, "We're going at it again, Akamaru!"

They both gulped the soldier pills down, before the now red dog jumped up to the boy's back.

The dog barked, _"Human effect ninpou!" _

Kiba crouched, "Beast effect ninpou!"

Akamaru was surrounded by smoke, until it revealed as they both shouted and barked,

"**Beast human bunshin!"**

What appeared was not a dog and a human, but two people. Both had feral faces, eyes, teeth and nails sharpened. They dashed for Naruto, who snapped, "This is getting old, you know!"

"Gijuu Ninpou: Shikyaku no Jutsu!"

The two Kiba's crashed into the floor where Naruto previously was. The blonde flew out of the way just in time, anticipating the attack. Naruto's smirk was shadowed when she bowed her head, and uttered out her famous words.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

This time, twenty five clones appeared. _Yes, _Naruto thought with glee, _this will be enough. _Pointing, she commanded the clones.

"CHARGE!"

War cries were heard as the small blonde army bombarded the two, but stood no chance for Kiba and Akamaru's swift punches. Sooner than anticipated, clouds of smoke filled the area as Naruto's smirk deepened.

Kiba growled, "Not the same trick again!"  
>A pop sounded, before the smoke started to disperse. Almost everyone gasped in surprise.<p>

In the middle of the indoor arena, stood three, feral looking Kiba's.

One of them scoffed, before smirking, "That won't work on me, _loser. _Don't underestimate the noses of an Inuzuka!"

He did a full spin kick on one of his copy, his grin arrogant and satisfied when the 'pop' sounded.

But it wasn't Naruto.

There, lay Akamaru, fur ruffled and covered in dust.

Kiba blew up in anger, before turning behind him. "Why you―!"

He punched the clone hard, glare harsh as he watched himself being skidded across the ground.

But, again, it wasn't Naruto.

Everyone gasped in surprise as there were now two Akamaru's. Kiba's eyebrows were scrunched in confusion, before he heard a feminine, angry cry.

He turned around, as Naruto had anticipated.

Her fist caused a nasty crunch as it smashed Kiba's nose. With an explosion of chakra around her knuckles, the boy was sent whirling to the wall; forming a crater despite the distance he was thrown.

The proctor went to check on him, despite already knowing Kiba was out cold. "This match goes to Uzumaki Naruto!"

Said girl walked up the stairs calmly, only slightly ruffled unlike the boy on the stretchers. Naruto yawned in her hand sleepily, before noticing the presence before her.

"Oh, hey Hinata―"

She was cut off when the Hyuuga thrusted a small bottle to her. Naruto raised a blonde brow, before eyeing the little thing curiously, "Is it for me?" When Hinata nodded furiously and kept her head down, she smiled softly. "What is it?" Naruto gently took the gift,

Hinata stuttered out quietly, "I-It's homemade o-ointment. I-I think it would work g-good enough…"

Naruto grinned as she tried some of the cream, the small scratches soon disappearing, "Wow, Hinata! You made this?"

"Y-Yes, it's my h-hobby."

"That's neat! Thank you."

Naruto's eyes scrunched up from her wide grin, as she patted the girl fondly. It's been a long while. Hinata didn't say anything, but her cherry face held a small smile.

Naruto let her eyes follow the blue-haired Hyuuga and rested her head on her folded arms, which were balanced by the railings. She watched as Hinata smiled at Kiba, who in turn grinned back, before the smiles fell when the two noticed the names called.

Naruto knew without looking that it was Neji and Hinata's match, just from the horrified look on the latter's face.

Though she didn't like to feel it, Naruto was relieved to see that the fight went pretty much like it did originally. That would give her an excuse to pound some sense into him.

But that didn't mean she didn't cheer Hinata on harder than ever. The blonde swore her head off at Neji, feeling pissed off again despite knowing that he would act in such a way.

"HINATA! YOU CAN DO IT!" Naruto made her shouts louder than necessary, cupping her hands to her mouth, "BEAT THAT BAS―OW!"

She rubbed her throbbing head, glaring at Sasuke, "What the heck, you prick? What was that for!"

He rolled his eyes, before settling it before him. "You're destroying my eardrums, Dobe."

"Why you―"

"Maa, maa. Calm down, Naruto. He has a point." Kakashi looked down at his glaring students patiently. "Hinata would lose concentration―"

Naruto, however, wasn't listening. She was too busy rooting the girl struggling to stand below. "That's it! You're doing great, Hinata!"

Neji glared up at her in annoyance, _that girl never shuts up. _His eyes locked back to what he thought of as an incompetent failure of a Hyuuga.

He has never seen such a determined look in Hyuuga Hinata's eyes, or her whole form in general.

It shocked him; shocked him to the very core. That passive, _dismissive loser _had built up so much courage, all just from the obnoxious shouts of the blonde bimbo?

It seemed as if the very 'loser' in front of him read his mind. "Neji-niisan, I'm different from the girl you've seen before. There's someone I admire watching me. She's acknowledging me. That's why I can't afford to give up so easily!" A smile crept up on her face, "That is Hyuuga Hinata's nindo."

Though she lost, Hinata had definitely surprised everyone with her fierce determination and passion, as well as her exclamation. Naruto glared at Neji.

"Hey you."

The brunette smirked, "Ah, you're the loudmouth idiot from earlier, aren't you? Well I hope you're satisfied―I was quite irked with your constant screeching."

Naruto looked down at the puddle of blood, before bringing her hand down to grab some. She then raised the dripping fist towards him, her eyes hardening.

"I swear, on Hinata's blood, that I would pound you to dust!"

That merely caused an eyebrow to rise, and the Hyuuga's smirk to deepen. "Is that so? Well, I'll look forward to it then."

"Naruto's blue eyes followed his back, willing it to burn. When she finally acknowledged that it wasn't working, she sighed and brought her gaze back to Hinata, who was unconscious on the yellow stretcher.

She ignored the gaze threatening her to turn around.

Rolling her eyes at Gaara's antics, she opposed to the threat and frowned deeply. Her eyebrows scrunched together, knowing what was coming.

Gaara vs. Rock Lee

Gaara had gotten down via shunshin with sand. Lee however…

"ALL RIGHT! THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE YOUTHFUL, THE BEAUTIFUL GREEN BEAST," Insert dramatic landing here. "ROCK _LEE_!"

Naruto refrained from slapping away brain cells, and absently heard Kankuro whisper to his sister.

"_Is that dude _really _out of his mind?"_

Temari snorted, "More like the idiot that can only come once every few generations."  
>Naruto nodded, before adding, "He's strong, you know. Idiotic, but strong."<p>

She was granted with another snort.

Naruto ignored it, as she watched intently on the match. The worried crease between her brows only increased as the sand whipped and twisted and _writhed. _She knew, with Lee's unwavering determination, this match was going to get incredibly gory.

Unless she stopped it, and prevented Lee's future depression.

He would be able to continue on as a ninja in the end, though, so all's good right?

Wrong.

The guilt that would eat her inside out would be unbearable, that she can already feel. Besides, what if something different occurred on her trip with Jiraiya to get his former teammate?

She didn't hear her peers awed conversations, solely focused on the match, and ignored the looks she received from her sensei and Gai. She had to end it.

Soon.

"LEE!"

Said boy's team and Naruto had shouted in unison, as well as a few other cries from the rest of the Rookie Twelve. The blonde jinchuuriki swore as she swooped down.

Naruto was barely thinking as she slammed the first tail mode's chakra claw with Gaara's, effectively blocking Lee from anymore harm.

She growled out and pushed more of Kurama's chakra, the cloak surrounding her form getting shades darker each passing second. Gaara watched with eyes wide and narrowed as his sand melted against the crimson chakra.

The chakra completely enveloped him then, and flung him to the wall.

It receded, and Naruto managed to finally calm down and take the situation in. She didn't register the crater that had formed around the Suna genin, and proceeded to check on the green clad boy.

Gai joined her, before calling in the medics. He turned to Naruto, eyes solemn but grateful, "I don't know what to say to show how thankful I am―"

"Lee's my friend as well, so I need to save him whenever I can, don't I? You don't have to thank me."

Her face was grim, effectively stopping the jounin from arguing. The expression stayed as she got back to the platform through shunshin.

Temari and Kankuro were immediately by Gaara's side the moment everyone heard the piercing scream. They were shocked to see him this bad.

Red, angry burns were splotched almost all over his skin and his clothes were burnt, probably from the molten sand shield. His head was bleeding, and Gaara most likely has bruises on his back, seeing as he was never hit with such impact before in his life.

What horrified them, however, was that he was unconscious.

Unconscious, meaning that the monster inside can come screeching out any second.

Which it wasn't doing at the moment.

They bravely dragged their eyes all over him, trying to find the reason why. They settled at the seal on his stomach, which was glowing red.

Temari gasped as Kankuro stared wide eyed, "This… this seal…"

Naruto frowned as she answered the unspoken question, "Just 'cause I wasn't thinking doesn't mean I was completely out of it. I had placed a repression seal on him through my chakra claw." She gazed sternly, "That is purely made for jinchuuriki, and I think there's only one person you are associated with who can fix it."

She had practiced it on herself in the forest, so it should work fine.

Temari was speechless for a moment, before she registered what the blonde said, "You knew he―"

Hayate coughed, "Will you all please let us continue with the exams?"

Kankuro growled, "Doesn't she have to be disqualified? She entered the fight, and even got Gaara this beaten up!"

The proctor shook his head, "The match was over the second I called it. Gaara should be the one who is disqualified, but he didn't inflict any harm, so I'll let him go."

Shikamaru had listened carefully to Naruto's words, which put a deep scowl on his face from all of his thinking.

_Jinchuuriki?_

Temari gulped, and all she could do now was stay anxious and nervous.

Uzumaki Naruto had known about their plan―she was sure of it.

* * *

><p><strong>Feedback greatly appreciated :)<strong>


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Naruto frowned as she surveyed the remaining genins lined up, flicking her eyes to her sides. Dosu was on her left, and she furrowed her brows further when she realized that he went missing in her original timeline. Shaking off the thought, her frown deepened when she had set her eyes on Sai.

Noticing the gaze, he locked eyes with her, and Sai smiled. Naruto didn't return it, however, and looked back at the Hokage.

"The break between now and the finals would be for you all to train and heighten your skills so that you could show them off. Remember, you're representing the strength of your countries."

Neji spoke, "But why a month? Surely a week is fine."

"This is for preparations. We need the time for the gathering of the event, informing all the various country lords and shinobi leaders. And this is also the preparation time for you examination students."

Kankuro scowled, _this old geezer… always making things complicated when he talks. _"I don't understand what you're trying to say!"

"Basically, it's a time for you to get to know your enemies and yourself. It's the time period you are to use to calculate your chances of winning, by analyzing the data you have gathered during the exams. The battles up to now had you fight as if you were in an actual combat situation with―" Sarutobi lowered his pipe more, boring his eyes into each contestant. "―the assumption of an unknown opponent. I'm sure this is enough for you to understand." He pointedly glanced at Kankuro.

"This also is the time for you to get rest, since some of you have been badly injured during the fights.

Naruto had tuned out the rest, and the crease between her eyebrows had formed in worry. She needed to choose the right number. That was the main problem.

One. She needed to grab the paper with the number one.

The palms of her hands moistened, as the box was being passed around by Anko. When it was finally her turn, she lifted her sleeve and reached for it.

Rummaging her hand around, she met eyes with the purple haired kunoichi, who was also as anxious.

Finally, Naruto got out a folded paper, and tried to calm the rapid beating of her heart.

The paper crinkled as she unfolded it, and a drop of sweat rolled down the side of her face.

Once Naruto had registered the number written, she couldn't help but feel as if a huge boulder had been lifted from her shoulders.

By some sheer luck, she picked the right slip.

A big, fat '**1**' was in the middle of the square.

They all called out their numbers, and the Hokage nodded, "Now we'll reveal the matches in the final tournament."  
>Shikamaru's eyes were wide with disbelief, "That's what we drew the numbers for?"<p>

Hiruzen ignored the shout, as he turned to Ibiki, "Show them the match arrangements."  
>Nodding, Ibiki raised the clipboard in his hand higher, and turned it agonizingly slow for the contestants to see.<p>

_Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuuga Neji_

_Gaara vs. Kankuro_

_Kinuta Dosu vs. Uchiha Sasuke_

_Nara Shikamaru vs. Aburame Shino_

_Sai vs. Temari_

Naruto blinked, and then blinked again. Was Sai entering the exams the cause of the change in the matchups? It would make sense, since he made the number of genins even.

She didn't even need to look at Kankuro to see that he was as white as a sheet. The boy would most likely forfeit, and if everything went well throughout the first set, then Naruto would have the chance to fight the redhead.

Her fists tightened in anticipation.

Feeling eyes on her, she turned to Sasuke. He nodded once, and Naruto returned the gesture.

It was obvious that they wouldn't get a chance to fight each other; Naruto was most likely going to give Gaara much damage, and―if the seal was removed―make him go berserk.

* * *

><p>Panting harshly, Naruto glared at her hands that were trying to balance her upper weight on her kneecaps. After half a minute, she looked back up at the man training her.<p>

"One more time!"

Jiraiya shook his head, "You need a break, Naruto. At this rate, you'll wind up in the hospital for a few days."

"I won't! Besides, I can still go on!"

"You have to understand that I am having just as hard a time as you are. I can barely keep up with your Sennin mode, even if I had Fukusaku-sama and Shima-sama. And don't get me started on the Nine Tails chakra." Ruffling his hair up a bit, he observed the training ground warily, "Besides, I don't think that this land here can stand any more attacks."

Naruto pouted, but agreed nonetheless. She guessed it _was _time for some lunch.

Her stomach growled in agreement.

So after stuffing herself with her favorite meal, Naruto proceeded home and hurriedly took a _long _shower. Once satisfied that the sweat, dirt and grain in her hair was fully gone, the blonde had arrived at the Hokage's office, via shunshin.

The old man turned to her, not at all surprised, but had the look of exasperation as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm glad you're finally here, Naruto, but I would very much appreciate it if you would go through the _door._"

The girl merely grinned as she said, "But that wouldn't make me a cool ninja, would it? I've seen Kakashi-sensei doing the body flicker several times, and it never got old!"

"Yes, well you are not your sensei, are you?"

Naruto stuck her tongue out, causing Jiraiya to bop her head as he chastised, "Be respectful, you brat!"

Just as Naruto was about to retaliate, Hiruzen had cut in, "The reason I wanted you both here was to discuss some things after my death."

The stretched silence after that was tense and solemn. Noticing this, the Sarutobi continued, "While I am sad to have to leave, it is something that must be done at all costs. Tsunade must become the next hokage, and she needs a reason to."

The two younger ninjas nodded reluctantly in acceptance. Naruto frowned, "But now that I've changed things, there's no telling what could happen. I believe Orochimaru wouldn't try to fight you with his remaining arm."

Nodding, the Hokage gazed at the two steadily as he spoke, "That is true, as you said, there's no telling of what could happen. We could only hope to know what we are doing.

"Do you have anything in mind, sensei?"

"Yes, Jiraiya, as a matter of fact, I do. Naruto," At this, the blonde perked up, "you have to keep Gaara busy inside the arena while our shinobi gets the civilians and academy students to safety. I would also need a lot of your clones to help them, Jiraiya would be at the gates, and stop the giant snakes."

Naruto furrowed her brows in confusion, "Isn't it better to keep Gaara as far away from the villagers as possible?"

"If something goes wrong and I end up losing to Orochimaru, I need someone there to know what to do with him and the Sound Four. I trust that you'll be the one who can do that."

"But―"

Jiraiya patted the girl's head, "Let's just see how things would go, Naruto."

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile...<em>

"S-Sakura? What _are _you doing to the tree?"

The pinkette turned to Ino, as she shook off the splinters on her gloves. "Training, why?"

"_Training? _What did the tree ever do to you?" Ino shook her head, "Wait―don't answer that. Why_ are_ you training? We both got a draw, so we aren't in the finals."

"You never know what could go wrong, Ino. I think it is best if you trained as well… speaking of which, Ino, just how would you like to spar? I kinda need a partner to try out my new techniques…"

…Ino glanced at the blown up tree.

"No, no, _no. _I'm _not _going through _that!"_

"Afraid you're going to lose, Ino-pig?"

"N-Now hold on a second, Forehead―What are you pulling on your gloves for? H-Hey―stay away from me!"

* * *

><p>Temari's eyes followed Gaara as he walked to the door, and when her younger brother finally left, she turned to Kankuro. "Should we tell Baki? I have a <em>really <em>bad feeling about her. She even managed to get Gaara _and _the thing inside him unconscious for three days!"

Kankuro sighed, as he looked up from his puppet, "I've been having a bad feeling about the whole plan, sis. This probably wasn't even a good idea to start with. I mean, have you _talked _to Father recently? He acts as bad as Gaara!"

"What are you talking about?"

The two siblings looked up at their sensei in surprise, before letting out a breath of relief. Temari frowned.

"Something about Father's idea doesn't sit well with us, Baki-sensei. Haven't you noticed?"

"That Uzumaki―I believe that was her name―is just getting to you. Don't lose focus on the mission." He glanced from side to side. "Where's Gaara?"

Kankuro scowled, "He went off somewhere, but didn't tell us exactly _where. _I have an idea though."

"He better not try anything that disrupts the plan."

* * *

><p>Naruto chuckled lightly in sympathy as she poked Chouji's stomach, "I can tell how hard not eating's for you. Well, I'll leave some fruits here, alright?"<p>

"Yup, thanks Naruto."

"Sure thing!" With a wave, she left the room, allowing Chouji to sleep in peace. The blonde blinked in surprise when Shikamaru was in front of her, "Hey, Shika. Here to see him?"

"Yeah, but I guess I can do it later."

"Okay―shit." Shikamaru rose a brow when Naruto looked towards the end of the corridor.

Naruto scowled, _Which room, Kurama?_

**The last one. His blood thirst is quite extraordinary for a human brat, I must say.**

Ignoring Shikamaru who followed her, the blonde dashed towards Lee's room.

"Gaara!"

Shikamaru furrowed his brows, _Gaara? _What was he doing there? He saw the hand of the redhead hovering ominously above Lee's throat. _He's not going to―_

""He annoys me. If I take away his existence, doesn't that make it mine?"

Naruto's jaw set, as she stared at the Sand ninja long and hard. "You want acknowledgement, then? You think that stealing someone else's life would give you attention?" She sneered, "Is that what Shukaku's been telling you all your life?"

"Yes, what of it?"  
>"That's entirely stupid. Well, you don't hear him recently now do you?" Being replied with silence, she continued. "Your seal… there's probably a way to fix that pathetic excuse of a seal, you know?"<p>

Shikamaru's frown deepened, _seal? _Shukaku? He wanted to let out strings of complaints and curses―all this thinking and confusion was such a pain.

Gaara lowered his hand, as his eyes flashed dangerously, "Fix? What are you talking about?"

Shikamaru scowled, _that's what _I _want to know. _He turned to Naruto, who replied calmly, "I'm aiming to be a seals master once I succeed in mastering my other techniques. I can get help from Jiraiya. If I did manage to alter the seal a bit, I might be able to make it like mine."

"Like yours?"

"Aah, I can sleep, and now I have a pretty good relationship with him. If you had the same privileges and tried hard enough, you can get your village to give you the proper respect and love you deserve. Right now, I have many precious people. I've been trying hard for as long as I can remember." She looked down at the ground a soft smile gracing her lips, before she brought her azure eyes back up to his teal. "You'll be acknowledged. You'll have someone and something to care for. You will no longer be a tool for destruction."

Gaara glared, "How can you be so sure?"

Naruto's eyes scrunched up, making the smile seem to have a mysterious effect. "I just am. I believe you can do it if you try. Just think it over, and I'll have you decide an answer by the end of the Chunin Exams."

The redhead left with a swirl of sand, and Shikamaru raised a brow at Naruto, his lips still curled downwards. "What was that about?"

"I'm pretty sure you understand now by what it means to be a jinchuuriki. You always were too smart for your own good, plus, you've seen me around the village streets numerous times, haven't you?"

"I understand what a jinchuuriki means, but I don't understand what it means to _be _one. All I know is that in worst cases you can turn out like _that." _

Naruto's smile faltered slightly. "I would have been like that too, had I not met Sasuke and talked to the Hokage. I think this village would have been finished for good."

"So… you controlled it? And I am guessing that you are holding the demon that attacked this village nearly thirteen years ago."

"From people's point of view, I guess you could say I _controlled _it. But I'd say I'm friends with him."

"You're serious?"

"Mm. Now that I think about it, he's a lot like Sasuke. Whenever he feels happy he tries to hide it, and both always calls me an idiot." Rolling her eyes, she looked at Lee. "He's the one who told me about Gaara's attempt at killing this guy."

Shikamaru blinked, "He? Does he have a name?"

Naruto grinned, much to his surprise, "Heh, you're the second person to ask! The first was Sasuke, by the way. And yes, he _does _have a name. Kurama. Named after the Sage of Six Paths himself!"

"Sage of Six Paths? That's just a myth isn't it? Wait don't answer that. I don't want to have to think anymore."

Naruto laughed.

* * *

><p>"Well, you were really trying hard the past few days, but today you seem distracted. Anything on your mind that you would like to share?"<p>

Sasuke lowered his water bottle to look up at his sensei. This man never failed to miss anything. Shaking his head, he closed the cap and set the bottle down on the memorial stone.

"Fine then. But I don't think that letting your brain drift to your blonde teammate would be much help in training."

The boy was beet red, and was trying to hide it by looking away. "Shut up!"

"Oh? You're not going to deny it then?"

Sasuke growled, his face feeling warmer and warmer with each tease Kakashi gave. "Who would like that idiot?"

"Obviously you, seeing as you're the one blushing here. Have you seen the looks sent her way?" The jounin eye-smiled, "I think Shikamaru and Naruto are getting quite friendly recently."

Kakashi leaned back to avoid the leg sweep Sasuke tried, still smiling all the way as he spoke, "Glad to see that you're finally getting into it."

* * *

><p>Sakura and Ino had been surprised to see Lee, Naruto and Shikamaru in Chouji's room, playing cards and laughing quite loudly. Sakura placed her hands on her hips, as she kept back a grin and laugh herself, "Lee-san! You're supposed to be staying in bed! Chouji, you too!"<p>

"Ah, Sakura-san! It is always a pleasure to be within your presence! I'm sorry, but I was feeling so unyouthful, staying in one place for several hours! Naruto-kun and Shikamaru-kun had saved me from it!"

Naruto snorted in amusement, "You wouldn't have been if you had woken up earlier."

"Yes, I terribly regret not having a chance to speak to Gaara-san myself―"

Ino's mouth was left agape, "Gaara? As in that psychopath, Suna nin Gaara?"

Rolling her eyes, Naruto nodded. "Who else goes by the name of Gaara? And yeah, I talked to him." She pointedly turned to Sakura, indicating that the last sentence was meant for her. Then, she noticed the basket on top of the bedside table. "You didn't eat any of the fruits? Are you okay, Chouji?"

The Akimichi pouted, "I'm not allowed to eat it… the nurse somehow knew whenever I was about to eat it…"

…Naruto grinned devilishly, and her former classmates all knew what she was about to do. Chouji took on a look of horror, while Ino, Sakura and Shikamaru sighed in exasperation at Konoha's number one prankster.

Luckily, the plump boy was saved, when Neji had opened the door. "So _this _was where you were, Lee. Gai was worried." Scowling, he briefly glanced at Naruto, before scoffing, "Figures that you would be with this loser. Losers get along with their own species, after all."

Naruto glared, "Just how big _is _the stick up your ass? 'Cause I'm really starting to believe that all pricks have one."

"You―"

"Now, now, children."

Naruto grinned, "Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke!" Sasuke gave a curt nod, and she blinked, "Hey, what'cha guys doing here? Wouldn't you want to train?"

Kakashi chuckled, "Now, about that, Sasuke here―" The Uchiha aimed to kick the man's shin, only to miss and lose balance. Kakashi went on, as if nothing had happened, "―had wanted to fight with a certain blonde."

Sasuke glared at his sensei while he picked himself off the ground. Naruto raised a brow at him, but shrugged her suspicion off. Sasuke was acting weird recently, so today was no different. "The only blondes here are me and Ino." Her voice held confusion, but when she noticed the pointed stare, Naruto blinked. "Oh."

Sakura rolled her eyes at the "certain blonde." Really, was she that thickheaded?

Naruto scratched her head, chuckling nervously, "Well then, how about team training then? I wanna see how much Sakura improved in chakra control, after all."

Ino furrowed her brows, "Chakra control?" Chouji and Lee looked at the pinkette, who blushed in embarrassment.

Naruto grinned proudly at her teammate, "Yep! She's a medic-in-training! She also uses a few cool skills that require just about perfect chakra control!"

The other genins had their brows lifted at amazing heights, "Medic?"

Shikamaru's eyes had lost some of its laziness, "Perfect? What kind of skills does a _genin_ need to have "just about" perfect control for?"

Sakura had whacked her blonde teammate's arm lightly, "Naruto! I want my training progress to be kept as a surprise, thank you!"

Today, Shikamaru had come to a conclusion. The fact that he remembered about the Legendary Sannin had helped too. To be a member of Team Seven, you have to be the most troublesome person on the face of the planet.

The Nara pointedly ignored the glare Sasuke had been burning the back of his head with.

* * *

><p><strong>I am <em>really <em>sorry this took such a long time to be updated. And yes, I know I should be posting up rewritten chapters up faster, but my schedule is being really - in lack of a better word - crazy right now, more worse than before. **

**The _wondrous _pile of homework balancing on the edge of my desk is not something to laugh at either. **

**So was there anything I had to improve on in this chapter? 'Cause I'm pretty sure there was something I missed. I _always _do. Advice, again, is _highly _appreciated. :)**


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Sakura and Naruto stood in front of Sasuke and Kakashi, as the blonde grinned, "Sasuke, you improved while you were with sensei, haven't you?"

"Hn. Of course I have. You better have not been lazing around, _Naruto." _

Sakura and Kakashi sighed at the two, and the pinkette stared pointedly at them, "You guys are _way _too excited for a spar. Make sure to keep the training grounds intact. _I _don't want another unbelievable bill in my hands again."

Naruto smirked as she twirled a kunai, before grabbing it professionally, "Sure, _Kakashi-sensei._ I'll go easy on 'im."

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke smirked back, "You won't need to, _Usuratonkachi. _I'll be just fine without you holding back."

Sakura facepalmed, "That would cost a hefty load of cash, Sasuke. We don't want to have sensei becoming suspended from teaching us because of the damage you guys did."

Naruto shrugged, "I have Ero-sennin."

"I feel loved, Naruto. I really do." Kakashi sighed before setting the alarm. "We have an hour. And no, you three aren't going to fight each other. All three of you will fight _me. _You are to get these." He shook the three bells dangling from his hands. "Also, Naruto, you aren't allowed to use the Nine Tails' chakra. You haven't perfected it yet, and it's better if you practiced for situations when you can't use it which will be most of the time."

"Sure. Wasn't planning to anyways, but remember Kakashi-sensei—you're dealing with _us." _

Said sensei sighed at the smirks―Sakura and Naruto seemed to have picked the expression up from Sasuke quite well. "I'll keep that in mind, and I'll be sure to watch out for you two kunoichi's. I won't have that much of a problem with Sasuke here."

Naruto grinned, "Me and Sakura have improved drastically, after all."

"Sakura and _I, _Naruto." Sakura corrected chirpily. "But yes, we have, compared to Sasuke."

Sasuke growled, "I trained harder with the new techniques. I'd've thought sensei would know that, seeing as he was the one who saw my progress."

Kakashi eye smiled "Must have slipped my mind. Oh well, team! We'll begin now!" And with that, he disappeared.

Leaving Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke to glare at the spot their sensei was in.

* * *

><p>The blonde kunoichi was still muttering strings of curses that even made Sasuke flush. The team was sitting in next to a tree, the area surrounded by more of it, obscuring them successfully. She finally sighed, and looked at her teammates. "So what's our plan?"<p>

Sakura spoke up, "We should use the element of surprise here. Naruto, you're good at that. Do you have an idea?"

Naruto grinned, whispering, "How about we have some clones posing as us near Kakashi-sensei? I can do that, and I'm pretty sure I got Sasuke down. All you have to do is act like a moody bastard." She was returned with a scowl. "Anyways, we can have my clones act like us, while Sasuke and I make the traps. Sakura," The pinkette perked up, "you'll distract Kakashi-sensei when he realizes that the clones were doing a henge—sensei would find out pretty soon, so be prepared."

"All right." Sakura nodded seriously, her emerald eyes twinkling in anticipation. "I'll do whatever I can. But what about the traps?"

Naruto grinned mischievously, "Oh, I have a pretty good stock of ninja wires and my handmade smoke bombs."

Sasuke blanched at the memory of experiencing one of her many pranks, "Make sure we're far away enough, Naruto. We can forget about Haruno."

Sakura bopped the boy's head, using her quick reflexes, _"Excuse me?"_

"I said—"

"Now, now, children. We need to finalize the plan. We'll warn you about the traps, alright?" Naruto patted the two good-naturedly; oblivious to the death glares she received. Drawing her hands into her favorite seal, she whispered the jutsu.

Three clones popped into existence, and with another cloud of smoke a copy of Team Seven minus their sensei replaced the Naruto clones. The blonde nodded in satisfaction, before waving them off. "Act like us, and patrol around the training grounds or something. Make sure you're acting like you're hiding from sensei, and stay close to him but not at the same time, get me?"

The fake team nodded, while the original Sakura and Sasuke rolled their eyes. Sasuke remarked, "You're such an _excellent _explainer, Usuratonkachi."

"Shut up."

* * *

><p>Kakashi eye smiled at the three teens below him. This was easier than he had expected, much to the jounin's relief, though he still kept his orange book in his pouch. It might take a turn, after all.<p>

His eye followed Naruto, who was occasionally checking her surroundings. Good. It seemed like she was the team leader, though Sasuke seemed quite reluctant.

Kakashi smirked under his mask. Though it was tempting to hide and wait until the time limit was over, there was no fun in that. He couldn't see just how much his team had improved so far, taking out the main objective of this test. _Guess it's time to make an appearance, then._

Sakura jumped in surprise when their sensei popped in front of them, definitely smiling under his mask. "I was hoping at least one of you would sense me, but… oh well."

Naruto twitched, "Maybe we did?"

"Well, I doubt you were waiting for me, seeing as you have limited time." Kakashi's smile, much to the team's annoyance, had stayed unwavering. "It's not very nice to lie to your sensei, Naruto."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, before slipping into a crouched form, squaring his feet, face switching to one of no emotion. Sakura and Naruto followed suit, but had kept at least some expression.

One thing that was clear in all of their eyes was the excitement and anticipation.

Chuckling he stood straight, hand lingering close to his holster, "Well? Come on then!"

The team had been avoiding the hits Kakashi sent their way, and now that he thought about it, their fighting styles are eerily similar…

He widened his eyes, before hearing a slight whistling of air close by.

_BOOM!_

Kakashi sighed of relief as he stood up straight, glad that he narrowly missed the punch, "You've certainly gotten a lot better at that technique, Sakura." _I would have been in a pinch had I not realized their trap. _"So where are the other two?"

"Right here, Sensei!"

He looked up, only to see Naruto swooping down like an eagle towards him. His visible eye widened, before he jumped back.

He knew that mischievous grin. His blonde pupil had something up her sleeve.

"Tajū: Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

His visible eye was bulged out as (hopefully) fifty clones appeared. He then noticed Sasuke's chakra signature behind, but was probably too late. _Curse myself for teaching them the cloaking technique so early… _

"Kakomu Honō no jutsu!"

He jumped away just in time to avoid being trapped in the circle of flames. He looked at Sasuke in surprise. _He shouldn't know that technique yet… _He tiredly glanced at the smirking three. _What a bunch to deal with._

"Now, Sasuke!"

Kakashi watched with wide eyed horror as the invisible wires grabbed him and tightened.

The three teens high fived each other with wide grins on their faces—

-before they heard the 'poof' behind them.

They glanced at the log wrapped up in the threads loosely, _a kawarimi! _Naruto cursed, "Kakashi-sensei, you surely love tricking people, don't you?"

The shrill of the alarm clock gave the three students a start, as Kakashi's voice called from above. "What's the point of living if you can't have some fun, eh, Naruto? I thought you would understand this much as well as I do…"

* * *

><p>Naruto ignored the supposedly quiet conversations sparked from when she had entered the arena. She was the last to join the line of contestants—Sasuke had come on time—and attracted a lot of attention, mostly because of her different getup. Unlike the usual clothes she wore—those were ripped up during her rough training with Jiraiya—she wore a loose, black kimono-style top which was held together by a bright orange obi. She had on leather leggings, reaching down to just below her kneecaps, with her usual weapon holster and standard blue sandals. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, her front bangs framing her face, most of it clipped to the side by an orange pin.<p>

Her blue eyes glinted with barely contained anticipation as Naruto calmly walked; she paid no heed to the stares and silence she had received.

It was only then did she flick her eyes to the Kages, and widen her eyes at the sight of the supposed Kazekage—or more specifically, one of his arms.

_Of course, _she let a curse escape her lips, _how could I forget that he would change bodies? _How could she? She thought carefully, letting the crease between her brows form as she looked back on her discussions with the Hokage. How did she miss that important detail? She knew just how fond the snake had been of his favorite forbidden technique. That was the whole point he tracked Sasuke down for. She may have forgotten in the midst of her disappointment at herself for letting Orochimaru go, but surely she would have remembered it while talking to—

Hiruzen.

Of course. The way he talked. He had calmed her down, and made her plan aggressively on how she would take care of everything else. He had ensured her that he would take care of Orochimaru, saying that it was thanks to her that he would be an easy opponent for him.

He had successfully avoided her from thinking of Orochimaru's twisted plans.

And the only person she could blame for her idiocy was herself.

Though her face was normal, the inner turmoil and horror she had was shown in her eyes.

Naruto shook her head violently, trying to clear her thoughts. She would hurry and go to the old man's side, and do what she can.

That was the only thing she can do now.

How pathetic.

**It would be hard to deal with the Shukaku brat. You wouldn't be able to settle with the talk you had at the end with the first fight you had with him—you know too much. Do you have a plan for that?**

_No, I don't. But I'll be sure to make him set things straight with him, Kurama. You can count on me with that. _

**Would you need my help? **

_Probably not—Orochimaru would die, now that Jijii knows how to deal with him, but if things leak out that I can "control the Nine Tails"… well, it would be hard to fight the Akatsuki without the element of surprise. _

**Thought as much.**

Genma's voice snapped Naruto out of her inner conversations with the fox. "Hyuuga Neji vs. Uzumaki Naruto!"

The two stared levelly at each other, waiting for the call to start.

"Begin!"

* * *

><p>Sakura leaned over to Hinata and frowned worriedly, "Hinata, if you have any problems breathing or somewhere hurts, tell me, alright?"<p>

"Okay, Sakura-san, thank you. I'm sorry to be a burden—"

The pinkette smiled warmly, "It's alright, there's nothing to be sorry about. You want to watch Naruto and Neji's match, don't you?"

Kiba frowned, "Although I'm grateful that you're trying to help Hinata and all, aren't you being a little too careful? I mean… I can literally smell that you're anxious or something." Ino nodded in agreement, her blonde brows sinking deeper.

"What's wrong, Sakura?"

"Nothing. I just thought…" The girl sighed, "It's nothing. I guess that I'm just nervous about Gaara and Naruto fighting, and I feel like I need to do something. That's probably it."

Kiba grit his canines, before scowling, "What makes you think she'll get that far? Sure, Naruto definitely got stronger, but I don't think she could beat Neji."

"You'll see. She's a lot more than you think. She isn't our dead last anymore." Sakura had gotten a faraway look in her eyes, "She surpassed us a long time ago." Ino raised a brow, but didn't question her friend. Kiba's scowl deepened.

Akamaru watched Naruto intently, having not listened to the three human teens.

* * *

><p>How long had it been since she last fought Neji? Counting the few months she's spent here, it's been much too long. She hadn't had a spar with him because of her trip to train Kurama and the war…<p>

Even now, when she had spent countless hours training on her taijutsu, she was no match with his. His speed was amazing—must have been because of the harsh Hyuuga and Gai training, and the influence of Lee.

She hacked up blood after being stabbed in numerous places—thankfully he had the decency to avoid her… womanly growth—and had fallen to the ground, unable to move.

Neji began telling her about his pain, his life up until now. Hearing it again was quite upsetting.

But his guard was down. Good.

She closed her eyes, and let him speak; vent his anger through his words.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru frowned, <em>what was she doing? <em>Surely she hadn't given up. Naruto wasn't like that. But she hadn't moved ever since Neji had started talking. She hadn't even opened an eyelid. Nothing. She would have made some sort of reply. Neji didn't know that she would, and still went on with his history.

Shikamaru paid more attention on the blonde than the Hyuuga, but still listened enough. Surely Naruto would respond… she would have said _something _to show her surprise and horror, at least.

"What's she doing?" Temari leaned on the fence, her face scrunching in confusion.

Gaara watched on in silence, indifferent.

"What's wrong with that idiot?" Kiba growled quietly. "What's she doing?"

"Sakura, what is she planning?" Ino asked, her voice almost a whisper. Hinata gripped the edge of her seat, brows knitting together.

Sakura thought for a moment, "Naruto wouldn't be beaten by something like that. If I'm thinking right… she's planning to use _that."_

"That?"

"Yeah, her Sage Mode. It's perfect for a moment like this."

Kiba scowled. "What the heck? What kind of technique is that?"

Sakura sighed, "Just watch. You'll see soon." She then muttered, "She had waited for this to happen then, that numbskull. Honestly, what if it had not gone to plan?"

* * *

><p>Neji glared, "Did you give up? I thought you were more stubborn than that… what a disappointment." A chuckle made him straighten his posture, and he stared at the blonde. She was… "How—you shouldn't be able to—"<p>

"Stand?" Naruto grinned, and Neji noticed that her eyes were different in every way he can think of. Her eyes were of a toad's, held so much excitement and confidence. "Sorry, but that's not the only think I could do. And a comment on your past? Sure, you've had it bad. But I've seen people who've experienced _much, much _worse, and carried on with living." _Like Itachi, in his own way._ "What you're doing now can't even consider you _breathing. _In life, you need to have the urge to want to protect something precious, and must accept joy and happiness wherever you can find it. You can't focus on revenge, that's not helping you, and it never will."

Neji growled, and charged, his anger controlling his being. No matter how hard he tried, his hits never reached her. She was too fast.

A fist connected with his face, sending him to the wall. A crater formed from the impact, and Neji fell back on the ground. Neji spat blood mixed with dirt up, and watched the blurred vision of the blonde walking up to him. "Never let your guard down. Surely you've heard that phrase before as a ninja?"

* * *

><p>Kiba gaped, "What the—her speed and strength's now entirely different from before!"<p>

"Didn't I tell you? That's her Sennin Mode. I'm not sure about Lee or Sasuke, but none of us could win against her now."

"No way… did your sensei teach her that? Could you do it, too?"

"No, and I can't do it. Naruto's summons taught her that—she's the summoner of the toads."

Ino turned to Sakura, wide eyed, "She knows the Kuchiyose? Or more over, is she _Naruto?"_

"Whenever she fights, she's not the Naruto you knew."

* * *

><p>Neji coughed violently, blood splattering on the ground as he glared up at the blonde. "What would you know? A lowly commoner like you, who hasn't even felt the pain I have!"<p>

Naruto smiled a wry smile, "Maybe I have, and maybe I haven't. That depends on what you think, in your point of view, doesn't it? But I know one thing; no matter how much suffering you have felt, there would always be someone else who's suffered worse. But that pain helps them grow stronger. Physical strength… there will always be a limit. But your mental strength is when you can embrace your pain and hatred, and deal with it positively. You go on, and not let anything take you down. You continue to be there for your comrades, and have the will to protect them. That's when you're _really _strong."

The orange tint around her eyes faded, and her eyes seeped back into their usual blue hues. Naruto panted in exhaustion as the Sennin Mode wore off. "You hate your seal and the people who cast it on you? Then show them. Show them what the branch members of the clan could do, and show them that you're strong enough to handle whatever's sent to you with a genuine smile. Show them you're strong because they made you strong.

"Also, you said before, haven't you? Dead lasts would stay as they are. Dead lasts. Well, I have to disagree with that. I was at the bottom of my class through all of my academy years. But, with my hard work and the help of my precious friends, I've gotten stronger with each passing day. Lee's the same. He surpassed most of his former classmates a long time ago. He even surpassed you in terms of hard work."

With that, she knocked him out by chopping the back of his neck.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"

The crowd was silent, before it cheered furiously. Excited whispers sparked, interested in who Uzumaki Naruto was. The villagers of Konoha were dumbfounded.

"_No way…"_

"_I can't believe she defeated the Hyuuga prodigy!"_

"_Amazing!"_

Meanwhile, Naruto blew kisses as she ran around the arena grounds, "I know I'm awesome! Thank you! Thank you!"

Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi face palmed.

The Hokage laughed good-naturedly, and the Kazekage never let his eyes waver from Naruto. "Amazing genin you have here in Konoha, Hokage-dono. I'm surprised."

"Is that so? I believe that Konohagakure produces the most promising batch of ninjas in the ninja world." He boasted, his laughs settling into a chuckle. "I don't find it very surprising at all."

"Hmm, well, I wonder how they'll match up with my son, Gaara. And I surely can't wait to see what the Uchiha clan survivor is capable of…"

* * *

><p>"Next: Gaara vs. Kankuro!"<p>

"I forfeit!" Came the immediate, terrified call from the latter. "I, Kankuro, forfeit, dammit!"

Genma raised a brow, "Okay then, well, Kinuta Dosu is not here, so therefore he'll be disqualified. Uchiha Sasuke is in the next round by default." He ignored the disappointed whisperings, "Next up, Nara Shikamaru vs. Aburame Shino!"

* * *

><p><strong>I'm so sorry I haven't updated in such a long time! No, I haven't lost interest in this story, and with the way things are going, I think I am going to definitely finish this story. <strong>

**Yeah, Sasuke and Naruto's relationship still has a bit of a long way to go... Maybe a few more chapters? Depends on how much I'll write in each of them.**

**I'll write up the next chapter ASAP, and freakin' rewrite the old chapters. Thank you for your patience!  
><strong>


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Shikamaru saw his chance. _Great, now I'll have to just… _He raised his arm, "Um, I, Nara Shikamaru, for—"

Before he could even finish the last word, a hand slapped his back, toppling him over into the arena.

"Hurry up, Shikamaru!"

Yup, it was official. After this, adding on all the thinking she made him do, Shikamaru was going to kill Naruto.

"Don't just lie there on your lazy ass! Get up and fight!"

_Ah well… I figured this would happen anyways… what a drag. _He grouched as he (reluctantly) did as the troublesome blonde said, and rigidly stood opposite to Shino.

The other boy spoke, as monotone as ever, "I hope to have a good match with you, Shikamaru."

"Huh? Ah… same here." Shikamaru sighed; he had forgotten that Shino was just as tiring to talk to, in his own way.

Genma brought his hand down, "Begin!"

_Shino… Best at long-distance, has good enough intelligence to last… weak points are his taijutsu… but his stamina's probably better than mine… damn. _Shikamaru scowled, _it'll be troublesome, but… I'll just have to do what I can._

Shino froze for only a second in surprise. Shikamaru dashed towards him, _quite uncharacteristic of the Nara… this would become difficult._

He avoided the flurry of limbs sent his way, but had to block most of them. One kick had been stronger than the rest, causing the Aburame to stagger back. _Shikamaru… knowing my weak areas, he must have trained to increase his taijutsu levels. He's entirely different from the academy… I'll have to resort to the kikaichuu._

Shikamaru tusked as Shino managed to jump back a hefty distance away from him and immediately send his insects towards him. _Dammit, how am I supposed to get away from this one? _He watched the swarm, before stuffing his hand to his holster, and got out an explosion tag attached kunai. He jumped back, applying chakra, and threw the weapon.

The crisped bugs fell, smoke flying upwards to the sky.

"Huh?" He let out, and looked back to see the second army of kikaichuu insects bursting out of the ground and surrounded him. _I only have a few of these, but… _He threw a smoke bomb at the hole, covered his nose and mouth, and tried to watch Shino.

Shino silently watched Shikamaru collapsed on his knees through the purple clouds. _Good. The kikaichuu must have taken enough chakra. _He walked towards the other boy, raised his arms to prepare another swarm, before jumping back again from the shadows. He inwardly cursed, _I overestimated the amount of chakra he needed for his clan's techniques. _Of course the Nara wouldn't be foolish. He watched as the spike stretched, before stopping just a centimeter away from him. _So that's its limit… easy enough._

_What…! _He tried to look back but couldn't, as he was frozen. _Since when—_

"You can't move—I got you from behind." Shikamaru smirked lazily as he stood up, much to the Aburame's surprise. "I took advantage of the hole you used to get your kikaichuu underground. There, you woudn't notice, and it would be dark. You wouldn't be able to see it anyways, because we're both directly over the hole."

"So… that time, you were pretending to be weakened from my kikaichuu?"

"Aah, they never got to touch me. The bomb I used contained a mixture of bug—insect—poison. I figured it would come in handy."

"But both you and I can't do anything until your chakra's completely diminished."

The Nara chuckled, "Maybe. Unless―" He walked backwards, causing Shino to do the same, "—I do this." He thrust his head back.

Shino was knocked unconscious.

"Winner: Shikamaru Nara!"

That received many whoops and cheers.

* * *

><p>"You did amazing, Shika! You're too smart for your own good!" Naruto grinned. "Although the end was the same as your fight with, um, Kin."<p>

"Be glad that I feel too tired to murder you, Uzumaki." Shikamaru grouched, "Let me sleep, troublesome woman."

"Huh? What happened to "troublesome girl?" You used to call me that in the academy."

"Kunoichi and women… same thing. Now let me sleep."

The blonde laughed, before leaving him in peace. She skipped to Sasuke's side. "Hey there, Mr. Grumpy."

"Shut up."

"Che. Lighten up, will you? Just 'cause he didn't show up… I think somethin' happened to 'im. Can't remember."

Sasuke shrugged, still scowling as he asked bitterly, "Whatever. What's got you in such a good mood?"

"I just thought I should send you some happy-waves, since your giving off a my-life-sucks-wave, you know?" Naruto smiled as she sat down beside him, ignoring his huff. "Like I said, lighten up. 'Tachi won't like having you unnecessarily frowning and all that—it would cause your pretty face to distort."

"Pretty?" He raised a brow, "I'm not a girl."

"Right, right. Will handsome cut it, then?" She laughed, "Don't misunderstand—just thought you needed an ego boost to prepare you for the next _fight."_

He scowled again.

"Oi." Naruto crawled in front of him, and pushed the ends of his lips upward with her index fingers. "What did I just say?"

"Haven't you ever heard of personal space?" Sasuke turned away, bringing her hands down. "Flirting won't do a ninja any good."

"S-Shut up! That wasn't flirting, prick!" Naruto glared with a very bright blush on her cheeks.

He smirked. "Hmm? Is that so? I think calling me handsome, trying to give me an ego boost, and entering my personal space are what a fan girl would do."

"Don't be too wishful, bastard." Naruto looked away when she got back to sitting next to him.

"I forfeit." Both jumped at the monotone voice in front of them, and Naruto sighed.

Sasuke turned to Naruto as she whispered. "I figured as much. Though I don't know how strong he is now, Sai's ink friends would surely just get blown away by Temari's wind." She sighed. "Guess it's my turn… with Gaara."

"Be careful."

"I'm glad to know you care." Naruto smiled, before leaning in his ear and whispered, "Look, when he loses control, bring Sakura to stop Kankuro and Temari. They'll surely try to bring Gaara far away, and I can't have that—Hokage's orders."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Usuratonkachi."

"Heh, I really can't think of why you'd say such a long and annoying nickname."

"It fits you."

"Bastard."  
>Genma's voice called her out, "Uzumaki Naruto vs. Sabaku no Gaara!"<p>

"Well, there's my cue." She disappeared in a swirl of leaves, and reappeared in the arena.

Genma stepped back, "Begin!"

Gaara still stood in his place, as still as a rock. Naruto sighed; _I really don't know how to start this match… Plus, no unnecessary use of chakra… _She scowled._ How am I supposed to show off for the village when I can't make extraordinary moves?_

* * *

><p>Kiba grumbled, "Why're they just standing there? That Gaara guy, sure, but Naruto? Is she scared or something?"<p>

Hinata squeezed her chair with her fists, "She isn't, Kiba-kun. S-She wouldn't be."

"Hinata's right. Naruto's just thinking of what she should do." Sakura bit her lip.

"No matter how strong Naruto got, fighting that freak's crazy!" Ino's raised voice caught the attention of the other watchers as well, "I seriously don't want to see her getting squashed inside his sand..."

"We don't either, Ino. But she's strong. Really strong. You wouldn't know until you see her extent—Even our team hasn't seen it."

"E-Excuse me, Sakura-san, but you have been saying that N-Naruto-san is like an entirely different person when she fights… why i-is that?"

"Ah, that? Haha, sorry, I got kind of carried away… I just look up to her a lot now. It's not really my place to tell, but I can say this: she's really someone you'd never expect."

* * *

><p>Gaara finally brought his hand up, and a flurry of sand was sent Naruto's way. The blonde grinned. Quickly, she got out a tall scroll from her sleeves and unraveled it.<p>

A seal appeared in the middle, and she formed a half seal with one of her hands. The kanji characters glowed red, before all the sand was sucked in it. "This monster's still hungry, Gaara!"

The boy's teal eyes glinted ominously, before a hurricane of sand appeared before him. It pulled the scroll towards itself.

The hurricane disappeared, leaving behind a puff of smoke, and the scroll was closed tight.

Naruto grinned, _that didn't cost me any chakra at all, seeing as I prepared some inside it beforehand. I surely got a little of Gaara's. Though that'ss not much, it's still something. _Naruto then smirked, _how's that for showy, Hokage-sama?_

**Let me have a go. I haven't had much fun in quite a while...**

_That's 'cause we ain't in a war, remember? But very well—only the first tail, though. Don't use too much of your chakra._

**Hah, was that a joke, brat?**

_Well, maybe. I don't want the villagers to think I finally lost control, but I do want you to try and weaken him enough that I'll have an easy fight. Think you can do that?_

**What do you take me for? It will be done in a minute.**

A red cloak surrounded Naruto's being and the current swarm of sand flying towards her melted when it came in contact with the chakra. Naruto crouched on all fours as the ears and tail formed. Terrified whispers erupted, but she paid them no heed.

Her red, demonic eyes watched Gaara, the more defined whiskers on her cheeks stretching from her twisted smirk.

"**Ah, this is the feeling. Your cramped mindscape is much too small for me, human." **

_Shut up. You're just too fat._

Naruto, with Kurama's influence, charged at Gaara, a clawed hand raised and thrusting forwards. The crimson chakra stretched out, and crashed with Gaara's defensive wall of sand.

The wall melted quickly, sizzling as it dripped on the floor. Naruto was now only a meter away from the Suna nin, and another load of sand was rising to try and protect its master.

In Naruto's hand, a red sphere of chakra glowed.

The orb crashed into the sand shield, and Naruto pushed her hand further. The Rasengan reached its target, and Gaara let a loud scream rip through his lips.

Hell broke loose.

* * *

><p>Sakura jumped up immediately, having gotten out of the genjutsu. She sparked chakra into Ino and Kiba's system. "Ino, Kiba, get up!"<p>

The two woke with a start, as Ino looked around her. What the heck's happening? Why—"

"No time for that, Ino! You guys have to fight the Sand and Sound ninjas!"

Kiba growled, grogginess still in his tone, "What 'bout you? Where're you goin'?"

"I need to—"

"Sakura!" The three turned to see a rushing Sasuke jumping over. "Come on! We need to help Naruto!"

Sakura sighed. "—do that."

Ino frowned, before shaking her head and tugging on Kiba's sleeve. "We should go, too. Konoha's in a crisis, and sitting around isn't gonna help!"

"Okay, bring her up! We need to make sure she has some cover!"

* * *

><p>"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"<p>

**"Brat, here's the scroll."**

Naruto smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Gamabunta! I believe Jiraiya-sensei's by the gates, and is fighting off orochimaru's large snake."

"Aah, be careful."

"Mm, you too."

Naruto frowned, as she opened the large scroll. She exhaled and then inhaled again, closing her eyes as she drew one of the two seals to her left hand. The lines, swirls and characters reached until the tips of her fingers. With her right she grabbed the long paper and got a kunai out quickly. "Sorry about this Gaara, and for what I'm about to do."

She tore his shirt to reveal his stomach. _It should be here… But if it was, why isn't it appearing? _Naruto furrowed her brows. She glanced back, seeing Sasuke and Sakura fight off Gaara's siblings. _There isn't much time!_

She thrusted her hand to his revealed skin, and grimaced as the seal left her and spread around his body. Another, pain filled, horrifying scream left Gaara's lips, and Naruto jumped back just in time to avoid the claw thrashing.

Gaara slowly got up, half of his body influenced by Shukaku.

Naruto brought her hands together in a ram seal, "Kage Bunshin!"

Hundreds of clones appeared, and immediately split to different sections of the village.

_Kurama, you can stop the first tail mode now. _

**Already? Fine, but you'll owe me some more freedom.**

_Okay, thanks. _

The red cloak receded, and Naruto spread out the scroll again on the ground hurriedly. Without looking down at it, keeping her eyes on Gaara, she drew the last seal to her left arm again.

Naruto discarded the now empty paper, and let her arms fall to her sides as she stood back up. _If everything works, I should be able to seal Shukaku away for good. Hold tight, Gaara._ Shukaku's skin crawled all over the redhead's form.

* * *

><p>"Honestly, Shikamaru! If we hadn't gone up here to leave Hinata at a safe place, you would have pretended to sleep through the whole thing!" Ino growled into the boy's ear, and Kiba snickered.<p>

"Oi, you brats! Don't just sit there!" Zabuza's voice caused them to jump, "Fight like the damn ninjas you are!"

"Sorry, Zabuza-san!" Ino sqeaked.

Kakashi stood beside them, now, and gave an eye smile. "Ino, Kiba, Shikamaru. We jounins will fight off the enemy ninja. You three go and help evacuate the academy students and civilians."

"Hai, sensei!" The three chorused, and ran off.

To say that Ino and Kiba were surprised was an understatement. Shikamaru grumbled, as if the scene was an everyday occurrence.

In front of them, were many (in their eyes, thousands of) Naruto's helping the elderly and the children get to the Hokage Monument. Some other clones were fighting off a few sound ninjas.

Ino went to help the biggest Naruto rescue group, and Kiba went to help the bunch of bunshins fighting. Shikamaru sighed, and went to look around if someone was trapped under the ruins of buildings.

Which, he found many cooped up in one place. Most were old men and women. He hurriedly went to pull up the fallen walls and roofs, calling for some of Naruto's clones to bring the people to safety.

Kiba watched as some of the Oto nins had the nerve to laugh at all the destruction they caused. _Those twisted..!_

"Gatsuuga!"

* * *

><p>Sasuke panted harshly, but let a smirk curl his lips when he saw his opponent wasn't any better. In fact, she looked worse. Angry burns were splattered all over her skin, her clothes tattered and torn, licked by his flames.<p>

_Time to put this Sharingan into use… _His irises changed into a red hue, and three tomoes appeared in them, spinning wildly.

Temari was knocked out, immediately under a genjutsu.

He wrapped ninja wires around her wrists, and stole her weapon pouch. _For good measure. _He smirked, _plus, I needed some anyways._

He glanced at the gigantic fan.

_Nah._

Sakura flexed her hands, watching Kankuro curse as he tried to get his puppets to work. _I'd need to get more of these awesome gloves… they work for anything. _The splinters and metal needles were no match for the strong leather, and not a drop of poison could seep through. _Too bad it costs a ridiculous amount…_

She slammed her fist to the ground, Kankuro only a few meters away.

The puppet boy was sprawled out in the giant cracks, surprised and unable to comprehend what just happened.

Sakura grinned.

Naruto wiped off the sweat rolling down the side of her face with her sleeve, trying to catch her breath desperately as the completely transformed Gaara thrashed around her barrier. It kept both her and him inside, blocking both of their attacks from the unconscious crowd around the arena. She looked around to see Sasuke and Sakura a small distance away, Kankuro and Temari already taken care of._ That just leaves their brother…_

Gaara's head was a mere dot compared to the tanuki that trapped him. The tingling sensation of her hand reminded her that the seal was still there.

But she couldn't help but guiltily feel how nostalgic this was. She shook her head, _now's not the time. _She rolled her sleeves up, watching the giant figure roar.

_Gaara, _she dashed up the raccoon demon, applying chakra to her feet as he kept moving to get her off. She reached the head.

She slammed her left hand on the forehead of the tanuki, pushing the seal faster onto it.

The kanji (封) sizzled as it engraved itself deep in its skin.

The demon thrashed around again, screaming in hysteria. Naruto applied chakra to her arms as well, and climbed up to reach Gaara.

She couldn't make it.

Shukaku reached up and threw her towards the ground.

Sasuke widened his eyes when he saw Naruto clutched in the demon's hand. He was up on his feet in a second, and didn't hear Sakura cry out their blonde teammate's name—he was too busy running to catch her.

Sakura was doing the same, but she was much farther. She knew she couldn't reach in time. _Please, Sasuke, don't let her die!_

Naruto twisted midair, but she knew with the speed she was going, that she couldn't brace herself for the crash. She screwed her eyes shut, waiting for the impact.

It was _much _softer than she thought. Slowly, she opened an eyelid, before blinking both. She turned at hearing a grunt of pain, _no way… _"Sasuke?"

She got off of him in less than a second. "Sasuke!" When he didn't wake, she felt her stomach churn unpleasantly, and her eyes stung. _This isn't the time to cry, dammit!_

"Naruto! Sasuke!"

She turned to see Sakura running to them, eyes full of worry. Naruto let out a breath of relief, "Sakura! Sasuke's…"

"I'll check him over, so go take care of Gaara!"

"Got it!" Naruto gripped her hands tightly, as she watched Shukaku.

The tanuki was clearly distracted by the pain from the seal; now was the chance.

She ran, pushing herself as she dashed up the demon. _Gaara… _She felt Kurama's chakra pumping her feet, replacing hers, and her speed tripled.

_Thank you. _

She finally reached the redhead, and placed two fingers on his forehead. Her chakra spiked.

Gaara's eyes snapped open, staring at Naruto with wide eyes. The demon below their feet screamed as it was being withdrawn into Gaara, the seal on its forehead glowing blue.

"Heh, morning, Gaara!" Naruto smiled, "How did you sleep?"

Gaara brought a hand up to his head, "How… it doesn't hurt."

"Didn't I tell you I'd seal him for good? It's not _completely _done, but it's a whole lot better. You should be able to sleep without him taking over." Naruto's smile dropped, replaced by a serious expression, "But it Shukaku would if you undergo extreme emotional stress. I'll give Temari or your sensei a couple of seals to keep it surpressed if that does happen… but be cautious. It hurts when it tries to control you."

"Why… are you doing this? Why for me, your enemy?"

"Why?" Naruto smiled softly, and surprised him by ruffling his hair. "We're both already comrades, right? Seeing as we both are jinchuuriki… we went through a lot. We understand each other better than most. I consider us as friends."

Gaara's eyes grew wide, before the two's attention was drawn to the sound of an explosion. Their eyes were drawn to one of the roof tops of a building, and Naruto widened her eyes in horror.

"Hokage-jijii!"

Naruto clenched her hands to fists, _Kurama. Can you refill my chakra levels, even if it's just a little? I know I'm asking too much but—_

She blinked, feeling reenergized. _I love you, furball._

"Sakura-chan! Do you have enough chakra to heal Gaara?" Naruto grinned when the pinkette nodded, and at the sight of Sasuke grumbling as he clutched his stomach. "Okay, thanks!"

Naruto went inside the building of the roof Hokage and Orochimaru were fighting on. She frowned; the Sound Four's barrier… how was she supposed to break through that?

She looked around. No one was here. _Good._ She sat down, made a clone to guard her and started meditating.

* * *

><p>Gaara watched as the deep red lines on his arms and chest were healed in a rapid speed, and then blinked at his stomach.<p>

Why was there a hole in his shirt?

"Okay, I'm done, Gaara-san. Do you still feel hurt anywhere?"

He gazed up at Sakura, and shook his head. He let a frown settle on his face. Why on earth were they being polite to him? Was it that blonde girl's influence? "Why are you healing me? I'm supposed to be the person you kill, yet you do the opposite because of what your teammate asked of you... why?"

Sakura raised a brow, "If you're friends with one of my closest people, then that makes you someone I need to help. Is that wrong?"

Sasuke scowled, "Though I hate to interrupt you guys, there's an enormous snake trying to smash every building it sees."

"Right, right, you go first, Sasuke, seeing as you're in perfect health now." Sakura shooed him off, checking Gaara once again. "I guess you're good to go now. I'm sure Naruto would appreciate it if you'd help Konoha… since the Sand was betrayed by Oto."

Gaara nodded once, before glancing at his siblings. Why was Temari worming her way to them like a caterpillar?

"Gaara…!"

Sakura laughed nervously, "Temari…san, right? Ah, Gaara-san's fine… not sure about your other brother but... Yeah, he's fine. Look, you need to tell your sensei that..."

* * *

><p>Amber eyes snapped open around them shadowed with orange, pupils slit vertically. Naruto stood up, and glanced around. <em>Funny… Why isn't anyone here?<em>

_Oh well. _She looked up at the ceiling, hearing the crashes going on up at the roof. _Should I try using the Rasenshuriken?_

It would waste half her natural energy. Should she risk it? Naruto looked at the clone, too see that it started meditating. Well, it's worth a shot.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

Two clones appeared. One molded the chakras, the other pumping in wind chakra. The Rasenshuriken let out a loud screech as its spikes spun rapidly.  
>Through its harsh sounds, Naruto yelled out, <em>"Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!" <em>She threw the giant chakra weapon up, and cursed.

She looked at the clone, then at the crumbling ceiling, and back at the clone. An angry tick formed on her temple, before she grabbed her copy's waist and dashed outside.

_Why do I have to be so stupid?_

She reluctantly ignored the annoying chuckle from her furry partner.

* * *

><p>"What—" Orochimaru looked down with wide eyes, and saw the roof crumbling, and with it, the barrier. "How is that possible?"<p>

Hiruzen smirked as he saw Naruto jump up to join them and attacked the surprised Sound Four. He did the same with his former student, taking full advantage of his shock.

Being the first, and of course not having the same eyes as the Hyuuga, Tayuya was stabbed in the back of her neck. Naruto grimaced as the blood covered her hands, and threw the kunai away in disgust.

The Anbu started helping her, killing of the other three. The barrier must have taken quite a lot of chakra from them, seeing as how easy it was for them to fall.

Naruto grinned at the rapid progress they made, before it fell at the sight of the Hokage and Orochimaru standing rigid, close to each other.

Shiki Fūjin.

And she can't do anything.

She did the only thing she _could _do. Stand behind Orochimaru without him noticing, and wait in case he managed to still live.

He didn't.

* * *

><p><strong>How was <em>that? <em>And I feel pretty good after writing this―the whole thing just flowed! Practically flowed out of my head! It was (surprisingly) easy to write!**

**Ahh... I really am loving this story so much more now. It's fun.**

**Please R&R! **

**To "slightly miffed": I'm really grateful you went out of your way to inform me! I really feel... bad when someone plagiarizes an idea (which I'm sure everyone else has experienced before). I checked for the story, but it didn't appear, so I'm guessing that the author deleted it.**


	19. Author's Note

This isn't a note that's ending the story, and I'm sorry that I'm using this chapter space as an A/N.

I apologize for the much too slow updates, but I'm trying to rewrite all the chapters, put up with (stupid but needed) schoolwork and keep up my social life, and work on both of my stories. I have a life, and you all do too, so please understand.

I'm posting up the rewritten chapters in as a new story so it would lessen the confusion, but the updates would be unbelievably slow for you guys, since I need to catch up.

Thank you for the support you have given me, and I'm sorry about all this. I'll try my best to update as soon as possible!

m(_ _)m


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